John Cortes (born March 25, 1961) is a Democratic politician from Florida. He served three terms 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 2014 to 2020, representing northern Osceola County including Buenaventura Lakes,

Campbell Campbell may refer to: People Surname * Campbell (surname), includes a list of people with surname Campbell Given name * Campbell Brown (footballer), an Australian rules footballer * Campbell Brown (journalist) (born 1968), American television ne ...

Kissimmee Kissimmee ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Osceola County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 79,226. It is a Principal City of the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Florida, Metropolitan Statistical Area, wh ...

, and Poinciana.

Early life and career

Cortes was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

in 1961 and attended the

John Jay College of Criminal Justice The John Jay College of Criminal Justice (John Jay) is a public college focused on criminal justice and located in New York City. It is a senior college of the City University of New York (CUNY). John Jay was founded as the only liberal arts c ...

from 1980 to 1981, though he did not graduate, and later worked as a corrections officer. In 2004, Cortes ran for the

City Commission from Seat 3, and placed second to Jerry Gemskie in the general election, receiving 22% of the vote to Gemskie's 24%. Because no candidate received a majority, a runoff election was held in which Cortes lost to Gemskie in a landslide, winning only 33% of the vote. Cortes ran for Mayor of Kissimmee in 2006, and, once again, because no candidate received a majority, Cortes advanced to a runoff election with former City Commissioner Jim Swan, who beat Cortes handily. When Swan ran for re-election in 2008, Cortes ran against him again, but was defeated convincingly, receiving only 26% of the vote to Swan's 58%. Cortes ran for the City Commission from Seat 2 in 2010, but placed last, winning only 9% of the vote.

Florida House of Representatives

In 2012, Cortes initially planned on running for the

from the 43rd District in the Democratic primary, but dropped out, leaving Ricardo Rangel as the uncontested nominee. Cortes challenged Rangel in the Democratic primary in 2014, and, in a "major upset," defeated Rangel for re-election, winning 52% of the vote to Rangel's 48%. In the general election, Cortes raced former Kissimmee City Commissioner Carlos Irizarry, who had previously beat him in his 2004 city commission campaign. The ''

Orlando Sentinel The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is the primary newspaper of Orlando, Florida, and the Central Florida region. It was founded in 1876 and is currently owned by Tribune Publishing Company. The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is owned by parent company, '' Tribune P ...

'' criticized both candidates, asserting that "both candidates have bankruptcies in their pasts" and that "both have had troubling brushes with the law," but gave a "qualified nod to Irizarry for his experience in government, and his deeper knowledge of the issues he would face as a member of the Legislature." Despite the ''Sentinel's'' criticism, however, Cortes defeated Irizarry handily, winning 66% of the vote to Irizarry's 34%. Cortes was reelected to the House in 2016 and 2018. In 2020, he ran for Osceola County

clerk of court A court clerk (British English: clerk to the court or clerk of the court ; American English: clerk of the court or clerk of court ) is an officer of the court whose responsibilities include maintaining records of a court, administer oaths to witn ...

but was defeated in the Democratic primary, coming in second to Kelvin Soto by 43–23%.

References

External links

Florida House of Representatives - John Cortes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cortes, John Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in Florida Democratic Party members of the Florida House of Representatives 1961 births Living people 21st-century American politicians

Early life and career

Florida House of Representatives

See also

References

External links