Carlos Antonio Giménez Bio
Carlos Antonio Giménez (born January 17, 1954) is an American politician and retired firefighter who has served as the U.S. representative for Florida’s 28th congressional district since 2023, after previously representing the 26th district beginning in 2021. A Republican, he served as mayor of Miami-Dade County from 2011 to 2020, where he became known for his cooperation with federal immigration authorities and for steering the county through major policy debates. Before entering politics, Giménez built a long public-safety career, rising from firefighter to fire chief of the Miami Fire-Rescue Department and later serving as city manager of Miami.
Born in Cuba and raised in Miami, Giménez rose through local government over several decades, holding senior executive positions in both fire-rescue services and municipal administration. He is one of the most prominent Cuban-American Republicans in Florida politics and is married to Lourdes Portela, with whom he has three children.
Early Life and Background
Carlos Antonio Giménez was born in Havana, Cuba, in 1954 into a prosperous landowner family from the Oriente province. After the Cuban Revolution and the subsequent agrarian reforms stripped his family of their lands, the family immigrated to the United States and settled in what became Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood. He attended Christopher Columbus High School near Miami, growing up in a tight-knit exile community that shaped his later political identity.
Giménez went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in public administration from Barry University, laying the academic foundation for a career in government and emergency services. In 1993, he completed the Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, an experience that broadened his approach to public administration and policy management.
Path to US Politics
Giménez joined the Miami Fire-Rescue Department as a firefighter in 1975, beginning a long career in public safety. He was appointed fire chief in 1991, becoming the first Cuban-American to hold the position, and served in that role until 2000. During his tenure, he also served on the Federal Emergency Management Agency Urban Search and Rescue Advisory Committee and chaired its Legal Issues Subcommittee, and held memberships in organizations including the International Association of Fire Chiefs and the National Fire Protection Association.
In May 2000, Giménez transitioned to municipal administration when he was appointed city manager of Miami by then-mayor Joe Carollo, replacing incumbent Donald Warshaw. He served in that role until January 2003, a period during which the city government exited a fiscal crisis and improved its bond credit rating from junk status to investment grade. In 2004, he was elected as a Miami-Dade County Commissioner for the county’s 7th district, defeating former mayor of Miami Xavier Suarez and beginning his formal political career.
Carlos Antonio Giménez Career
Early Career (2003–2011)
As a Miami-Dade County Commissioner from 2003 to 2011, Giménez represented a sprawling district that included Miami proper, the Village of Key Biscayne, Coral Gables, South Miami, Kendall, and Pinecrest. The position gave him direct experience with the metropolitan county’s budget, zoning, and public-safety challenges.
He used this base to launch a bid for mayor of Miami-Dade County in 2011, following the recall of incumbent mayor Carlos Alvarez in one of the largest recall elections of a municipal official in U.S. history. Giménez won the runoff election with 51 percent of the vote against Julio Robaina and was elected on June 28, 2011.
Breakthrough (2011–2020)
As mayor of the metropolitan government of Miami-Dade County from 2011 to 2020, Giménez became a leading figure in South Florida politics. During his 2011 campaign he promised to cut his own salary, and after taking office he followed through by reducing his salary and benefits by 50 percent. He was reelected in 2012 with 54 percent of the vote against multiple candidates and again in 2016 with 56 percent of the vote against school board member Raquel Regalado.
His tenure was defined by high-profile battles over immigration policy. After President Donald Trump signed a 2017 executive order targeting sanctuary jurisdictions, Miami-Dade was flagged by the administration. Giménez then ordered the county’s corrections department to honor all requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Miami-Dade County Board of Commissioners formally codified the order by a 9-to-3 vote. The Department of Justice later confirmed the county was no longer flagged as a sanctuary jurisdiction, and in December 2018 the Florida Third District Court of Appeal dismissed a state lawsuit challenging the detention policy.
Giménez also attracted attention for his decisions on election administration during the COVID-19 pandemic, including limiting the number of ballot drop locations and sending mail-in ballots later than state law required. He intervened when the city of Miami was close to signing an agreement with the Miami Heat to use AmericanAirlines Arena as an early voting site, and the city ultimately selected the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science instead.
Republican Era (2021–Present)
Term-limited as mayor, Giménez announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination in Florida’s 26th congressional district in January 2020. He had earlier supported Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election and called on Donald Trump to step down as the Republican nominee, but in 2020 he said he had made a mistake and ran as a pro-Trump Republican on a platform of repealing the Affordable Care Act and opposing a carbon tax. Trump endorsed him in January 2020, and on August 18, 2020, Giménez won the Republican primary with 59.9 percent of the vote against Omar Blanco. In the general election he defeated incumbent Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, aided by Trump’s strong showing in Miami-Dade County, where he carried the 26th district with 53 percent of the vote after losing it four years earlier.
He was sworn in as the U.S. representative for Florida’s 26th congressional district in 2021 and was redistricted to the 28th congressional district in 2023. Giménez serves as one of the Republican assistant whips under House Majority Leader Steve Scalise. In late 2020, he was a member of Freedom Force, a group of incoming Republican House members who identified as fighting against socialism in America, and on February 4, 2021, he joined 10 other House Republicans and all voting Democrats in stripping Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of her committee assignments.
Notable Events and Milestones
Among his most notable votes, Giménez was one of only eight Republicans in March 2021 to join the House majority in passing the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021, and one of 29 Republicans in 2021 to vote to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act. In 2021, he was among the House Republicans to sponsor the Fairness for All Act, the Republican-proposed alternative to the Equality Act, and on July 19, 2022, he and 46 other Republican representatives voted for the Respect for Marriage Act, which would codify the right to same-sex marriage in federal law. On May 19, 2021, he was one of 35 Republicans to join all Democrats in voting to approve legislation establishing the January 6 commission.
Carlos Antonio Giménez Career Wins
Carlos Antonio Giménez’s career is marked by a steady climb through public service and a series of clear electoral victories at every level of government.
Congressional and Mayoral Highlights
Giménez won his first congressional race in 2020, defeating incumbent Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell in Florida’s 26th congressional district, and has held his seat since, representing the 28th district after redistricting in 2022. His three mayoral victories came in the 2011 special election runoff (51 percent), the 2012 reelection (54 percent), and the 2016 reelection (56 percent). He also won election as a Miami-Dade County Commissioner for the 7th district in 2004, defeating former Miami mayor Xavier Suarez.
Other Wins and Achievements
Beyond electoral wins, Giménez was the first Cuban-American to be appointed fire chief of the Miami Fire-Rescue Department, a milestone he reached in 1991. As city manager of Miami from 2000 to 2003, he led the city out of a fiscal crisis and improved its bond credit rating from junk status to investment grade. He has also served on advisory bodies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency Urban Search and Rescue Advisory Committee and held leadership roles in national fire-service organizations.
Carlos Antonio Giménez Family
Family Background and Political Lineage
Carlos Antonio Giménez was born into a prosperous landowner family from Cuba’s Oriente province. After the Cuban Revolution and subsequent agrarian reforms stripped the family of their lands, they immigrated to the United States and settled in Miami’s Little Havana, joining the broader wave of Cuban exiles who reshaped South Florida.
Personal Life
Giménez married Lourdes Portela in 1975, the same year he joined the Miami Fire-Rescue Department. The couple has three children. Giménez is Catholic, a faith that has been part of his public identity alongside his Cuban-American heritage.