Amber Mariano (born October 18, 1995) is an American politician who served in the

Florida House of Representatives The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted ...

from 2016 through 2022. A member of the

Florida Republican Party The Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) is the affiliate of the Republican Party in the U.S. state of Florida. It is currently the state's favored party, controlling the majority of Florida's U.S. House seats, both U.S. Senate seats, supermajori ...

, she was first elected to the Florida legislature in 2016 while still a student at the University of Central Florida. At 21, she was the youngest representative ever elected. She was reelected in 2018. She is the daughter of Jack Mariano, a

Pasco County Pasco County is located on the west central coast of the U.S. state of Florida. According to the 2020 census, the population was 561,691. Its county seat is Dade City, and its largest city is Zephyrhills. The county is named after Samuel Pasco ...

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

Elections

Mariano ran a campaign centered around higher education and local flooding issues. Her campaign featured endorsements from then-Governor

Rick Scott Richard Lynn Scott ( Myers, born December 1, 1952) is an American politician serving as the junior United States senator from Florida since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he was the 45th governor of Florida from 2011 to 2019. Scott ...

and U.S. Senator

Marco Rubio Marco Antonio Rubio (born May 28, 1971) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the senior United States senator from Florida, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he served as Speaker of the Florida Hous ...

. In November she defeated incumbent Democratic Representative Amanda Murphy. She won 50.5% to 49.5%, or by roughly 719 votes. This made her the youngest representative elected to the Florida House. She was re-elected comfortably in 2018- 58.8% to 41.2%.

Age

Rep. Mariano has been open about the challenges of running for office at a young age. She was profiled in ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

'', where she spoke about the issues she faced while campaigning. She recalled how members of her opponent's team negatively engaged with her at polling locations, making comments on how she had not yet graduated and demeaningly calling her "little girl". In her re-election effort in 2018, her opponent Linda Jack called her a nice person who "was still too young to have this job". She went on to defeat Jack by more than 17 points.

References

External links

Florida House of Representatives - Amber Mariano
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mariano, Amber (Florida politician) Women state legislators in Florida Living people University of Central Florida alumni People from Hudson, Florida 1995 births 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians Republican Party members of the Florida House of Representatives