Restaurateur Irina Vilariño, whom the Miami Herald describes as “[t]he face of” the well-known local Las Vegas Cuban Cuisine chain, announced this week that she would seek the GOP nod to take on freshman Democratic Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell in Florida’s 26th Congressional District.
Vilariño, who came to the U.S. from Cuba at the age of 4 as part of the Mariel Boatlift, is also a frequent conservative presence on cable news. Notably, she has also appeared with Donald Trump multiple times, including a White House Hispanic Heritage Month event where she suggested creating an “American Heritage Month” and echoed his “keep America great” slogan.
Vilariño’s pro-Trump rhetoric may be a liability in a general election in a Miami-area seat that supported Hillary Clinton 57-41. This seat was friendlier to Republicans down the ballot in 2018, but it still wasn’t great turf for Team Red last year. According to analyst Matthew Isbell, all five statewide Democrats carried the 26th District, with Sen. Bill Nelson taking it 54-46 during his unsuccessful re-election bid and gubernatorial nominee Andrew Gillum winning it by a similar 53-46 spread.
Republican Rep. Carlos Curbelo made a great effort to distance himself from Trump in word (though not in deed) during his re-election campaign last year, and he did indeed run ahead of the entire statewide ticket. However, it still wasn’t enough, and Curbelo lost to Mucarsel-Powell 51-49. The following day, Trump mocked Curbelofor separating himself from the White House, declared he was one of the defeated incumbents who “did very poorly,” and repeatedly mispronounced his name. Unsurprisingly, Curbelo has shown little interest in running here again, though he’s been eyeing a bid for Miami-Dade County mayor.
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