4 days ago
José Javier Rodríguez says he's running for attorney general to become ‘the people's lawyer'
Former Miami Democratic state Senator Jose Javier Rodriguez (via Twitter).
Saying that he wants to make Florida safer and less expensive, former state Sen. José Javier Rodriguez announced Monday that he is a candidate for the Democratic Party nomination for attorney general in 2026.
'Corrupt deal makers have taken over Florida, and we are paying the price,' says Rodriguez in a video message announcing his candidacy posted early Monday afternoon.
'Our power company is planning the biggest rate hike in U.S. history. Our insurance goes up every year. Powerful interests get away with everything they want, looking out for themselves and making deals at our expense and at our children's expense. And who do we have to stop them? Nobody. Because our attorney general, the guy who should be taking them to court, is too busy enriching himself and only looking out for himself.'
That last reference is to Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, who was selected by Gov. Ron DeSantis to serve out the remainder of Ashley Moody's four-year term in February after he appointed her to the U.S. Senate.
Rodriguez, 46, is a Miami attorney with Cuban roots who graduated from Harvard Law School before getting into electoral politics. He first ran for office in 2012, when he won a House seat representing a portion of Miami-Dade County. In 2016, he left the House and won a seat in the state Senate representing various cities in Miami-Dade (including downtown Miami).
His time in the Legislature ended abruptly in 2020 when he lost his bid for re-election to his Senate seat to Republican Ileana Garcia by just 32 votes out of more than 210,000 cast.
However, it was later exposed in state court that former Republican state Sen. Frank Artiles had orchestrated the candidacy of a no-party-affiliated 'ghost candidate' named Alex Rodriguez by offering him $50,000 to enter the contest to take votes away from José Javier Rodriguez.
Alex Rodriguez received 3% of the vote that year. Ultimately, Artiles was sentenced to 60 days in jail for his involvement in that operation.
In 2021 Rodriguez was nominated by President Joe Biden to serve as assistant secretary for employment and training in the U.S. Department of Labor. He wasn't confirmed however, until March of 2024, clearing the U.S. Senate on a narrow 50-48 vote.
A strong advocate for combatting climate change during his time in the Senate, in 2019 Rodriguez filed a bill that would have allowed property owners to sell home-generated solar power to other people or tenants living in their homes.
Such legislation if enacted could have become a threat to investor-owned utilities like Florida Power & Light. It was later reported that then-utility CEO Eric Silagy sent an email to lobbyists for the utility after the bill was introduced, writing, 'I want you to be make his life a living hell…seriously.'
Rodriguez referenced that comment in his campaign video on Monday.
'I made my career taking on the corrupt and powerful,' he said.
'When I did, they promised to make my life a living hell. Seriously. So I gave 'em hell right back. Seriously. As an attorney, fighting for janitors, security guards, and cab drivers whose wages were stolen. As a state senator, taking on special interest giants who want more and more of our hard-earned money at every turn. And as an assistant secretary of Labor, proud to fight every day for American workers. And now I'm running to be your attorney general, because Florida needs somebody in its court, and I've never been more ready to take on the corrupt and powerful.'
Rodriguez is the first major Democrat to announce his candidacy for the AG position, which has been held by Republican lawmakers ever since Bob Butterworth left office due to term limits in 2002.
Uthmeier previously served as DeSantis' chief of staff and has already faced several controversies during his short time in office, which could invite a primary challenge from a fellow Republican. A federal judge has said that she may hold him in contempt of court for informing law enforcement officers that they don't need to follow a court order barring enforcement of a newly enacted state immigration law.
Uthmeier has also had his name mentioned in the Hope Florida saga. Specifically, he chaired a political committee called Keep Florida Clean last year that was created to oppose Amendment 3, the proposed constitutional amendment that would have legalized recreational cannabis use for adults.
Keep Florida Clean was the ultimate recipient of millions of dollars of the original $10 million that the Hope Florida Foundation received from a $67 million Medicaid overpayment settlement with the state. Uthmeier has denied any involvement in how that money came to Keep Florida Clean.
Like any Democrat now running statewide in what has become a very red state, Rodriguez will definitely be an underdog should he win the Democratic party's nomination for AG next year. Evan Power, the Republican Party of Florida chair, blasted the South Florida Democrat as being a 'failed politician and liberal ambulance chaser.'
'José Javier Rodriguez has spent his career coddling criminals, chasing ambulances, and auditioning whatever political gig he can land,' Power said in a statement. 'Floridians support fighters who protect communities, not far-left hacks who put criminals first.'
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