Mario Rafael Díaz-Balart y Caballero ( ; born September 25, 1961) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Florida's 26th congressional district. A member of the Republican Party, he was elected in 2002, and his district includes much of northwestern Miami-Dade County, including Hialeah, and much of the northern portion of the Everglades.
Díaz-Balart has been the dean of Florida's congressional delegation since April 2021.
Early life, education, and early political career Díaz-Balart was born in 1961 in Fort Lauderdale, to Cuban parents, the late Cuban politician Rafael Díaz-Balart, and his wife, Hilda Caballero Brunet.
He is a member of the Díaz-Balart family: His aunt, Mirta Díaz-Balart, was the first wife of Cuban president Fidel Castro. Her son, and his cousin, was Fidel Ángel "Fidelito" Castro Díaz-Balart. His uncle was the Cuban-Spanish painter Waldo Díaz-Balart. His brother Lincoln Díaz-Balart represented Florida's 21st District from 1993 to 2011. He has two other brothers, José Díaz-Balart, a journalist, and Rafael Díaz-Balart, a banker.
He studied political science at the University of South Florida before beginning his public service career as an aide to then-Miami Mayor Xavier Suárez in 1985. In the same year, he changed his political party affiliation from Democratic to Republican."Díaz-Balart Se Pasa Al Partido Republicano", El Nuevo Herald, April 24, 1985.
Florida legislature
Díaz-Balart was elected to the Florida House in 1988 and to the Florida Senate in 1992. He returned to the Florida House in 2000.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections 2002–2006 Díaz-Balart gave up his seat in the state house to run in the newly created 25th District, which included most of western Miami-Dade County, part of Collier County and the mainland portion of Monroe County. He won with 64% of the vote. He was unopposed for reelection in 2004, and won a third term with 58% of the vote in 2006.
2008
In 2008, Díaz-Balart faced his strongest challenge to date in Joe García, former executive director of the Cuban American National Foundation and former chairman of the Miami-Dade County Democratic Party. Díaz-Balart defeated Garcia with 53% of the vote.
2010
On February 11, 2010, Díaz-Balart announced his intention to seek election in Florida's 21st congressional district—being vacated by his brother, Lincoln Díaz-Balart—rather than the 25th district. Unlike the 25th, the 21st has long been considered the Miami area's most Republican district. No other party even fielded a candidate when filing closed on April 30, handing Díaz-Balart the seat.
2012
Díaz-Balart was reelected unopposed in 2012 in the renumbered 25th district.
2014
In 2014, Díaz-Balart ran unopposed.
2016
In 2016, Díaz-Balart beat Democrat Alina Valdes, 62.4% to 37.6%. It was only the third time that a Democrat had filed to run in this district, which had been numbered as the 21st from 1993 to 2013.
2018
The Miami Herald reported in April 2018 that Díaz-Balart seemed a shoo-in for reelection in November. Former Hialeah mayor Raúl Martínez, a Democrat who had challenged Lincoln Díaz-Balart in what was the 21st in 2008, said the 25th district "is very hard to win for a Democrat, especially if you're not Hispanic and you don't speak Spanish." Valdes, who had lost to him in 2016, was a candidate in the Democratic primary.Daugherty, Alex; Democrats face long odds in effort to topple Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart; Miami Herald; April 11, 2018; https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article208616809.html In April, Annisa Karim, who is active in the Democratic Party, announced that she too would run in the primary. In May, the Herald reported that Mary Barzee Flores, a former judge who had at first decided to run in the 27th district, had opted instead to run for Díaz-Balart's seat.Daugherty, Alex; Democrat Mary Barzee Flores switches races to challenge Republican Mario Diaz-Balart; Miami Herald; May 3, 2018; https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article210394744.html
In the November 2018 general election, Díaz-Balart defeated Barzee Flores, 60.5% to 39.5%.
Committee assignments For the 118th Congress: Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (Chair) Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies
Caucus memberships Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Conference Founder of the Protecting Families Online Initiative Founding member of the Washington Waste Watchers Congressional Taiwan Caucus (Co-chair) Member of the Congressional Cuba Democracy Caucus Republican Main Street Partnership House Baltic Caucus Republican Governance Group
Political positions As of January 2018, Díaz-Balart had voted with his party in 92.4% of votes in the 115th United States Congress and voted in line with President Trump's position in 93.1% of votes.
He is a founding member of the Congressional Hispanic Conference, a caucus of Hispanic Republican congressmen.Henry Bonilla, et al., "We the (Hispanic) People...," Wall Street Journal (March 17, 2003)
Epstein files During the congressional debate over the Epstein Files Transparency Act, Representative Mario Díaz-Balart (R-FL) publicly expressed support for transparency and justice for victims but was noncommittal about signing the Epstein Files Transparency Act. In a statement on social media ahead of the House vote, Díaz-Balart described the work of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform under Republican leadership as having “released over 65,000 pages of documents, summoned key witnesses, and demanded full transparency from the Department of Justice, while also protecting the victims,” but still called the Epstein Files Transparency Act “flawed”.
Unlike Representatives Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who led early bipartisan efforts to force release of the full Epstein files (not just the previously released 65,000 files), Díaz-Balart did not support those actions and was reported as voting with most House Republicans in support of the final bill only after President Trump weighed in.
LGBT rights In May 2019, Díaz-Balart voted to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing, public accommodations, public education, federal funding, credit, and the jury system under the Equality Act. He joined seven other Republicans and 228 Democrats in supporting the legislation, which passed the United States House of Representatives during the 116th Congress.
In February 2021, Díaz-Balart changed his position on the legislation, voting against it during the 117th Congress on the basis that it did not protect individuals or organizations who oppose LGBTQ rights. In a statement released after his vote, he claimed Democrats ignored Republicans' issues with the bill and "doubled down on some of the most troubling issues, including sabotaging religious freedom."
Vote Smart issue positions According to Vote Smart's 2016 analysis, Díaz-Balart generally supports pro-life legislation, opposes an income tax increase, opposes mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenders, opposes federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth, supports lowering taxes as a means of promoting economic growth, opposes requiring states to adopt federal education standards, supports building the Keystone Pipeline, supports government funding for the development of renewable energy, opposes the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions, opposes gun-control legislation, supports repealing the Affordable Care Act, opposes requiring immigrants who are unlawfully present to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship, opposes same-sex marriage, and supports allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts.
Environment In 2007, Díaz-Balart said, "I know there's a lot of money to be made on the bandwagon of global warming. You can make movies, documentaries, get a lot of research money — and that's okay, I love capitalism...My fear is using the bandwagon of global warming to have Congress act on some knee-jerk reaction which will please some editorialists, will hurt our economy, will not do anything to help us in the future."
Health care On May 4, 2017, Díaz-Balart voted to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and pass the American Health Care Act.
Donald Trump In February 2017, Díaz-Balart voted against a resolution that would have directed the House to request 10 years of then-President Donald Trump's tax returns, which would then have been reviewed by the House Ways and Means Committee in a closed session.
Díaz-Balart supported Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey, saying, "It is clear that Director Comey had lost the confidence of the deputy attorney general, attorney general, and the president. Unfortunately, he became a controversial and divisive figure."
In January 2018, after it was reported that Trump had voiced his opposition to immigration from Haiti, El Salvador, and African countries—which he reportedly called "shithole countries"—in a meeting on immigration reform, Díaz-Balart, who attended the meeting, did not say whether the alleged incident took place.
Economic issues Díaz-Balart voted to promote free trade with Peru, against assisting workers who lose jobs due to globalization, for the Central America Free Trade Agreement, for the US-Australia Free Trade Agreement, for the US-Singapore free trade agreement, and for free trade with Chile. He was rated 75% by the National Foreign Trade Council, indicating support for trade engagement.
Tax reform Díaz-Balart voted for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The Center for American Progress, a center-left think-tank, estimated that 41,000 of his constituents would lose their health insurance as a result of the bill's passing.
Foreign policy Díaz-Balart has strongly supported the right of self-determination on the Falkland Islands, over which there is a sovereignty dispute between Argentina and the United Kingdom. On April 18, 2013, he introduced a House resolution calling on the federal government to officially recognize the result of the 2013 Falkland Islands sovereignty referendum in which the Falkland Islanders overwhelmingly voted to remain a British Overseas Territory. Díaz-Balart introduced a similar resolution in 2017, recognizing the result of that year's general election in the Falklands.
Díaz-Balart supported a July 2025 appropriations bill that would ban funding for the United Nations secretariat and UNRWA, saying that the bill "strengthens national security and supports an America First foreign policy."
Cuba In 2007, Díaz-Balart advocated maintaining the Cuban embargo, saying, "Some people do not understand the embargo of Cuba. Its purpose is to keep American hard currency out of the hands of a Communist thug by restricting most trade and travel."
In an April 2015 essay for Time magazine, Díaz-Balart wrote that President Obama "continues to appease brutal dictatorships while gaining precious little in return. He conflates the Cuban dictatorship with the Cuban people when in reality, their interests are diametrically opposed." Díaz-Balart noted that "all eight Cuban-American senators and congressmen from both sides of the aisle strongly disagree" with Obama's policy on Cuba, whose people "want to gather peacefully, speak their minds, practice their faiths, access the Internet, and enjoy the fruits of their labor."