John P. Quiñones IV (born April 26, 1965 in

Rio Piedras Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

) is an American

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

. He was the first

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

of Puerto Rican ancestry elected to the Florida House of Representatives, serving from 2002 to 2007, and is a former member of the Osceola County Commission. He received his

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree from the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...

in 1988, and his Juris Doctor degree from St. Thomas University in

Opa-locka Opa-locka is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 16,463, up from 15,219 in 2010. The city was developed by Glenn Curtiss. Developed based on a ''One Thousand and One Nights'' theme, Op ...

in 1992. Quiñones, who was elected in 2002, represented the 49th District of the state, which stretches between Osceola and

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

counties. On February 1, 2007 he resigned his seat in order to concentrate on a run for a newly created seat on the Osceola County Commission. His campaign was successful and he was reelected in 2010. In April 2012, he announced that he would be running for the Republican nomination to represent

Florida's 9th congressional district Florida's 9th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Florida. It stretches from eastern Orlando south-southeast to Yeehaw Junction. It also includes the cities of Kissimmee and St. Cloud. From 2003 to 2012, ...

in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

.Florida: John Quiñones Announces Bid in 9th District
/ref> He came second in the primary with 7,514 votes (28.26%). Attorney Todd Long won the primary with 12,585 votes (47.33%), Julius A. Melendez came third with 3,983 votes (14.98%) and Mark Oxner came last with 2,510 votes (9.44%). Long went on to lose the general election to Democrat

Alan Grayson Alan Mark Grayson (born March 13, 1958) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2009 to 2011 and from 2013 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was defeated for reelection in 2010 by Republican Daniel ...

in a landslide.

Personal life

He resides in

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 ...

with his two children, Natalia and Alexander.

References

External links

Official Profile from ''Florida Circuit-Civil Mediator Society''Official Profile from ''Florida House of Representatives''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quinones, John 1965 births Puerto Rican people in Florida politics American politicians of Puerto Rican descent Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in Florida Hispanic and Latino American women in politics Florida lawyers People from Kissimmee, Florida Living people Republican Party members of the Florida House of Representatives University of Central Florida alumni People from Río Piedras, Puerto Rico St. Thomas University (Florida) alumni