When Gov. Ron DeSantis decided not to schedule a special election to fill the vacant House seat in District 113 — it’s just going to be the regular primary in August — residents have been effectively left without a voice in Tallahassee for an entire legislative session. No committee assignments. No votes. No advocate. Just a cold, empty seat — exactly as the governor intended.
This is a favorite little trick of the his: delay the election, deprive a district of representation, and let the political calendar work to your advantage. But while seasoned politicians grumble and send press releases, one first-time candidate has decided to do something a little, well, unconventional.
Read related: Ron DeSantis leaves HD 113 without a voice because he can — as always
Of the five candidates already running in HD 113 to replace Vicki Lopez — who was appointed a county commissioner to replace Eileen Higgins, who was elected mayor of Miami — Tony Diaz is probably the least politically experienced. But now — officially — he’s the only one opening an “interim representation” office for constituents who currently have no representative.
Because if Tallahassee won’t give District 113 a voice — and that’s anybody who lives Key Biscayne, coastal Miami, Little Havana or parts of Coral Gables — Tony Diaz says he’ll provide one himself. And it’s a tiki hut in his back yard.
Yes, you read that correctly.
Diaz announced this week that he is creating the District 113 “Provisional Representation Office,” located at 2264 SW 22nd Avenue in Miami. It will be open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., staffed at his own expense, and available to any resident who wants their concerns forwarded to the Dade legislative delegation, Speaker Danny Perez, Governor DeSantis, or relevant committee chairs.
It’s part civic outreach, part campaign stunt, and entirely unprecedented.
Read related: Campaign contributions flow for HD 113 election that doesn’t exist — yet
In his press release, Diaz describes District 113’s current situation as an “amputated limb” and the new office as a “modest bandage.” He even leans into the absurdity, noting that the tiki hut is a “fitting metaphor for our current situation.”
Ladra appreciates a candidate who knows when reality has crossed into satire. And Diaz is both bold and funny.
But here’s where it gets even more interesting.
Diaz isn’t just opening an office. He is not just appointing himself the voice of District 113. He’s calling on all four of his opponents — fellow Republicans Bruno Barreiro and Frank Lago as well as Democrats Justin Mendoza Routt and Gloria Romero Roses — to join him in forming a “provisional delegation,” meeting twice a month to discuss policy priorities and forward recommendations to state leadership.
In other words: if Tallahassee refuses to seat a representative, Diaz proposes to create a shadow one. Out in the open. Under a thatched roof. He’s even invited anyone who wants to participate or receive “loose minutes of meetings,” to email him (tonyjdiaz22@gmail.com) or text him.
“This is an unprecedented time in Miami. I am busy enough, but I think this is a duty we must undertake to make sure that District 113 has at least some semblance of representation until one of us takes the reins,” Diaz said in a statement, adding that it will make whoever the eventual winner is more prepared.
Imagine that!
“It’d be better than sitting around twiddling our thumbs,” Diaz told Political Cortadito.
He said he’d been to the Key Biscayne Democratic Club meeting earlier this month to hear Mendoza and Romero and said that while he disagreed with some of their ideas, “some of them were not bad,” particularly having to do with environmental pollution and septic tanks and development. “There’s no reason we can’t send something like that to someone in Tallahassee so that they can at least put it in committee,” Diaz told Ladra.
Read related: Tony Diaz doesn’t waste a minute – files for House seat vacated by Vicki Lopez
Now, let’s be clear. This “provisional office” will have no official authority, no budget, and no guarantee that anyone in Tallahassee will pay attention. But in a district that truly has been left behind this session, the symbolism is potent. And for a first-time candidate, the move is savvy.
While more experienced candidates wait for the governor’s calendar, Tony Diaz pulled a few chairs into his tiki hut next to his grafted fruit plants and set up an interim constituent office for the people of 113. Is that not the very definition of democracy in action?
Will it matter? Hard to say. Will Tallahassee listen? Probably not.
But at the very least, when voters in District 113 finally get their election — whenever the governor decides they deserve one — maybe they’ll remember which candidate didn’t just complain about having no representation.
Maybe they’ll remember who created it, instead. Even if it’s provisional. And under palm fronds.
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