Tuesday's primary election in Florida's 116th House District proved being on the inside doesn't always secure victory in politics. In a nail-biter primary election, political newcomer Daniel Perez pulled out a win over longtime GOP insider Jose Mallea, ending months of bitter campaigning for the Miami-Dade House seat.
Perez defeated Mallea Tuesday evening, taking nearly 55 percent of the vote compared to Perez’s 45 percent in early returns.
Gov. Rick Scott announced the special election in May after Rep. Jose Felix “Pepi” Diaz announced he would be resigning to run for Florida’s 40th Senate District, which was vacated by Sen. Frank Artiles in April.
The summerlong primary quickly devolved into a nasty back-and-forth over claims of carpetbagging, lawsuits over residency and one very disgruntled Marco Rubio, who was thrown into the fray just weeks before voters headed to the polls.
Earlier this month, Mallea’s campaign filed a lawsuit against Perez, alleging his entire candidacy should be revoked after it was uncovered Perez was not actually living in the house listed on his voting records.
The suit alleged Perez made false claims about his residency in his campaign filing documents and asked the court to nullify his candidacy entirely.
Mallea requested the court declare Perez ineligible to be a candidate for office, to decertify his candidacy, remove his name from the ballot and refuse to certify any votes cast for him because he allegedly didn’t live in the district.
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio also made an appearance in the GOP rivalry between Mallea and Perez, appearing in a mailer which featured photographs of Mallea and Rubio.
Rubio, unaware of the mailer, appeared upset he was cast into the special election skirmish.
"Sen. Rubio did not see the mailer before it was sent, and he was never asked to approve the use of his name and picture,'' said Olivia Perez-Cubas, Rubio spokesperson, to the Miami Herald earlier this month.
Rubio was quick to congratulate Perez on his victory in a tweet posted Tuesday evening.
"Congratulations to @josefelixdiaz and Daniel Perez for their victories in special elections tonight!" Rubio wrote to Perez and Diaz, who handily won the special election primary in Senate District 40.
Mallea is a well-connected GOP operative who jumped from campaign to campaign over the years, heading up U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio’s senatorial campaign committee in 2010 before joining Newt Gingrich’s Florida team in 2011.
The South Florida Republican also served as a senior adviser for Hispanic outreach to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s 2016 presidential campaign, but his connections and endorsements from former stars in Florida politics -- like Bush and former House Speaker Will Weatherford -- couldn’t secure him a win on Election Day.
Perez, 29, was a newcomer to the political scene, but quickly equipped himself with a high-profile political team which included Republican veteran consultant David Custin.
Perez will run against Gabriele Mayaudon, who ran uncontested, in the general election Sept. 26.
Republicans are widely speculated to hold the seat, which has historically elected Republicans to the House seat. Hillary Clinton won HD116 last November, but HD116 is susceptible to ticket-splitting, with Republicans like Diaz handily winning elections each cycle.
Reach reporter Allison Nielsen by email at allison@sunshinestatenews.com or follow her on Twitter: @AllisonNielsen.
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