Carlos Antonio Giménez ( ; born January 17, 1954) is a Cuban-born American retired

firefighter A firefighter (or fire fighter or fireman) is a first responder trained in specific emergency response such as firefighting, primarily to control and extinguish fires and respond to emergencies such as hazardous material incidents, medical in ...

and politician serving as the

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

for since 2023. He was redistricted from in

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, which he took office in 2021. A Republican, he served as

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Miami-Dade County Miami-Dade County () is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most-populous coun ...

from 2011 to 2020. He served as a Miami-Dade County Commissioner from 2003 to 2011, and was the

fire chief A fire chief or fire commissioner is a top executive rank or commanding officer in a fire department. Nomenclature Various official English-language titles for a fire chief include ''fire chief'', ''chief fire officer'' and ''fire commissioner ...

of the City of Miami Fire Department. Giménez supported

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

in the 2016 presidential election, but in 2020 he ran as a supporter of President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

and was endorsed by him. He defeated incumbent

Debbie Mucarsel-Powell Deborah Mucarsel-Powell ( ; born January 18, 1971) is an American politician and academic administrator who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for from 2019 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party (Unit ...

in the election. Giménez serves as one of the Republican assistant whips under

Steve Scalise Stephen Joseph Scalise ( ; born October 6, 1965) is an American politician who has been the House majority leader since 2023 and the U.S. representative for since 2008. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he was ...

Early life and education

Giménez was born in

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Oriente province. In 1960, his family immigrated to the United States in the wake of the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution () was the military and political movement that overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, who had ruled Cuba from 1952 to 1959. The revolution began after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état, in which Batista overthrew ...

, settling in what became

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Little Havana Little Havana () is a Neighborhoods in Miami, neighborhood of Miami, Florida, United States. Home to many Cuban exiles, as well as many immigrants from Central and South America, Little Havana is named after Havana, the Capital (political), ...

. Giménez attended Columbus High School near Miami and earned a bachelor's degree in public administration from

Barry University Barry University is a private Catholic university in Miami Shores, Florida. Founded in 1940 by the Adrian Dominican Sisters, it is one of the largest Catholic universities in the Southeast and is located within the Archdiocese of Miami. Th ...

. In 1993, he completed the Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government at Harvard University's

John F. Kennedy School of Government The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...

Career

Giménez joined the

Miami Fire Department The Miami Fire-Rescue Department, also referred to as the City of Miami Department of Fire-Rescue, provides fire protection and emergency medical services for the city of Miami, Florida. The department is notable for being the first in the natio ...

as a firefighter in 1975. He was appointed fire chief in 1991, becoming the first Cuban-American to hold the position, and served until 2000. Giménez is a former member of the International City Managers Association, the

International Association of Fire Chiefs The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) is a non-profit network of more than 12,000 fire chiefs and emergency officers in over 30 countries. The Association was established in 1873 with John S. Damrell as president. It is headquarter ...

, the

National Fire Protection Association The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is a U.S.-based international nonprofit organization devoted to eliminating death, injury, property damage, and economic loss due to fire, electrical, and related hazards. , the NFPA claims to have 5 ...

, the Florida Fire Chiefs, and the Fire Officers Association of Miami-Dade. He also served on the

Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Exec ...

Urban Search and Rescue Advisory Committee and as the chair of the Legal Issues Subcommittee.

City manager and county commissioner

From May 2000 to January 2003, Giménez served as

city manager A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city in the council–manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are referred to as the chief executive officer (CEO) or chief administ ...

of Miami proper, appointed by then mayor

Joe Carollo Joseph Xavier Carollo (born March 12, 1955) is a Cuban-American politician who served as mayor of Miami from 1996 to 1997 and again from 1998 to 2001. Following his loss in the 2001 mayoral election, he served as Doral, Florida city manager fr ...

, to replace incumbent Donald Warshaw. In 2004, he was elected as a Miami-Dade County Commissioner for the county's 7th district, beating former

mayor of Miami Below is a list of mayors of the City of Miami, Florida, United States. List of mayors See also *Government of the City of Miami * * Timeline of Miami * List of mayors of Miami-Dade County, Florida, 1964–present * Miami City Hall Ref ...

Xavier Suarez Xavier Louis Suarez (born May 21, 1949) is an American politician who was the first Cuban-born mayor of Miami and was a Miami-Dade county commissioner. Early life and education Suarez was born on May 21, 1949, in Las Villas, Cuba. Suarez moved ...

. His district included Miami proper, the Village of Key Biscayne,

Coral Gables Coral Gables is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The city is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida and is located southwest of Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 U.S. census, it had a population of 49,248. Cora ...

South Miami South Miami is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The city is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The population was 12,026 as of the 2020 census. History South Florida had been roamed by Native Americans ( ...

, Kendall, and Pinecrest.

Mayoralty

Giménez was elected mayor of the

metropolitan government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

Miami-Dade County, Florida Miami-Dade County () is a County (United States), county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the most populous coun ...

on June 28, 2011, in the 2011 Miami-Dade County mayoral special election. Incumbent mayor Carlos Alvarez had been recalled in one of the largest

recall election A recall election (also called a recall referendum, recall petition or representative recall) is a procedure by which voters can remove an elected official from office through a referendum before that official's term of office has ended. Recalls ...

s of a municipal official in U.S. history. No candidate got over 50% of the popular vote in the first round, so a runoff election was held. Giménez won the runoff with 51% of the vote to

Julio Robaina Julio Robaina (born April 21, 1965) is an American politician who served as the mayor of Hialeah, Florida. He was first elected in 2005 and was re-elected for a second term in 2009.Robaina also served as Hialeah's city manager, with a total ...

's 49%. During his 2011 campaign, Giménez promised that if elected, he would cut his own salary. After he was elected, he kept this promise, cutting his own salary and benefits by 50%. Giménez was reelected in the 2012 Miami-Dade County mayoral election with 54% of the vote against multiple candidates, and in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

with 56% of the vote against school board member Raquel Regalado.

Cooperation with ICE

In 2017, President

signed an

executive order In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of the ...

targeting "sanctuary" jurisdictions that limited or refused to cooperate with federal immigration authorities, ordering a review of their access to federal funding. Miami-Dade received a letter from the administration that the county had been flagged as a sanctuary jurisdiction. Giménez then ordered the director of his corrections department to begin honoring all requests by

Immigration and Customs Enforcement The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE; ) is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Homeland Security. ICE's stated mission is to protect the United States from transnational crime and ille ...

(ICE). The Miami Dade County Board of Commissioners formally codified his order by a 9 to 3 vote. The Department of Justice later confirmed the county was no longer flagged as a sanctuary jurisdiction. In December 2018, the

Florida Third District Court of Appeal The Florida Third District Court of Appeal is headquartered in Miami, Florida. Its ten judges have jurisdiction over cases arising from Miami-Dade County, Miami-Dade and Monroe County, Florida, Monroe Counties. History The Third District Court ...

dismissed a lawsuit filed in state court challenging the county's detention policy.

Election administration

In the lead-up to the 2020 election, which took place during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Giménez limited the number of ballot drop locations. His office sent mail-in ballots to voters later than required by state law. Before the 2020 election, the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern C ...

sought to make

AmericanAirlines Arena Kaseya Center is a multi-purpose arena on Biscayne Bay in Miami, Florida. The arena is home to the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association. The arena was previously named American Airlines Arena from opening in 1999 until 2021, FTX ...

the early voting site for downtown Miami. In the wake of the murder of

George Floyd George Perry Floyd Jr. (October 14, 1973 – May 25, 2020) was an African-American man who was murdered by a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during an arrest made after a store clerk suspected Floyd had used a counterfeit tw ...

, the NBA had sought to "channel demands for social justice into a voting drive by turning arenas into polling places." The city was close to signing an agreement with the Heat that included a ban on political advertising in the arena while voting was underway. Giménez intervened and the city ultimately selected the

Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science The Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science, formerly known as the Miami Science Museum or Miami Science Museum and Space Transit Planetarium, is a science museum, planetarium, and aquarium located in Miami, Florida, United States. The museu ...

, a previous longtime polling location, as Miami's early voting location, citing its proximity to a

Metromover Metromover is a fare-free automated people mover system operated by Miami-Dade Transit in Miami, Florida, United States. Metromover serves the Downtown Miami, Brickell, Park West and Arts & Entertainment District neighborhoods. Metromover con ...

station as well as access to ground-level parking. The Frost Museum site was smaller than the arena and elections staff had not mentioned it on a draft list of 33 early voting sites that the staff worked on to prepare safe voting during a pandemic.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2020

In January 2020, Giménez announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination in the 2020 U.S. House election for

Florida's 26th congressional district Florida's 26th congressional district is an congressional district, electoral district for the U.S. Congress, which was first created in South Florida in 2013 as a result of Florida's population gain in the 2010 United States census, 2010 censu ...

. He was term-limited from running again as mayor. Four years earlier, in the 2016 presidential election, Giménez had endorsed

. In 2020, he said that he had "made a mistake" in supporting Clinton. Having previously distanced himself from Trump, Giménez ran as a

pro-Trump Trumpism, also referred to as the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, is the political movement and political ideology, ideology behind U.S. president Donald Trump and his political base. It comprises ideologies such as right-wing p ...

Republican in 2020. He ran on a platform of repealing the

Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and informally as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presid ...

(Obamacare) and opposing a

carbon tax A carbon tax is a tax levied on the carbon emissions from producing goods and services. Carbon taxes are intended to make visible the hidden Social cost of carbon, social costs of carbon emissions. They are designed to reduce greenhouse gas emis ...

. Trump endorsed Giménez in January 2020. On August 18, 2020, Giménez won the Republican primary election, defeating Omar Blanco with 59.9% of the vote. In the general election, he defeated incumbent Democrat

. He was likely aided by Trump's strong showing in Miami-Dade County: he carried the 26th district with 53% of the vote after losing it by 16 percentage points four years earlier.

Tenure

In late 2020, Giménez was a member of Freedom Force, a group of incoming Republican House members who "say they're fighting against socialism in America". On February 4, 2021, he joined 10 other House Republicans voting with all voting Democrats to strip

Marjorie Taylor Greene Marjorie Taylor Greene ( Taylor; born May 27, 1974), sometimes referred to by her initials MTG, is an American far-rightSources describing Greene as "far-right" include: * * * * * * * * * * * politician, businesswoman, and cons ...

of her House Education and Labor Committee, and

House Budget Committee The United States House Committee on the Budget, commonly known as the House Budget Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. Its responsibilities include legislative oversight of the federal budget process ...

assignments in response to conspiratorial and violent statements she had made. In March 2021, Giménez voted against the

American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, also called the COVID-19 Stimulus Package or American Rescue Plan, is a economic stimulus bill passed by the 117th United States Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 11, 2021, to sp ...

Committee assignments

For the

118th Congress The 118th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It convened in Washington, D.C., on January ...

: * Committee on Armed Services ** Subcommittee on Readiness ** Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces * Committee on Homeland Security ** Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection ** Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security (Chairman) * Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party

Caucus memberships

Climate Solutions Caucus The Climate Solutions Caucus is a bipartisan caucus of U.S. legislators supported by the Citizens' Climate Lobby whose members work to achieve action addressing the risks from climate change. The House of Representatives and Senate each have a c ...

Republican Main Street Partnership The Republican Main Street Partnership is a nonprofit organization that was founded to raise funds to support politicians in the moderate wing of the Republican Party. As of 2024, the organization seems to be leaning away from its original cent ...

Republican Governance Group The Republican Governance Group, originally the Tuesday Lunch Bunch and then the Tuesday Group until 2020, is a group of moderate Republicans in the United States House of Representatives. It was founded in 1994 in the wake of the Republican ta ...

Political positions

2016 vote for Hillary Clinton

On Oct. 9, 2016, in a televised debate while running for reelection as County Mayor, Giménez said that he would vote for

and called on Donald Trump to step down as his party’s nominee. Giménez said on CBS4, “Between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, I’m not voting for Donald Trump. Obviously, I must be voting for Hillary Clinton.” He continued, “Donald Trump needs to step down. I don’t think he is viable as a presidential candidate.”

2020 presidential election

After

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

won the 2020 election and Trump refused to concede while making false claims of fraud, Giménez defended Trump and said he should not concede. He later voted against certification of Arizona's and Pennsylvania's electoral votes. Giménez voted against the

second impeachment of Donald Trump Donald Trump, serving as the 45th president of the United States, was impeached for the second time on January 13, 2021, one week before his term expired. On that date, the House of Representatives adopted one article of impeachment again ...

on January 13, 2021. On May 19, 2021, Giménez was one of 35 Republicans who joined all Democrats in voting to approve legislation to establish the January 6 commission meant to investigate the storming of the U.S. Capitol.

LGBT rights

In 2021, Giménez was among the House Republicans to sponsor the Fairness for All Act, the Republican-proposed alternative to the Equality Act. The bill would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity, and protect the free exercise of religion. While he was Miami-Dade mayor, Giménez announced his support for the Supreme Court ruling ''

Obergefell v. Hodges ''Obergefell v. Hodges'', ( ), is a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court which ruled that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of th ...

'', which held that same-sex marriage bans violate the Constitution. In 2021, Giménez was one of 29 Republicans to vote to reauthorize the

Violence Against Women Act The Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (VAWA) is a United States federal law (Title IV of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, ) signed by President Bill Clinton on September13, 1994. The Act provided $1.6billion toward investigat ...

. This bill expanded legal protections for transgender people, and contained provisions allowing transgender women to use women's shelters and serve time in prisons matching their gender identity. On July 19, 2022, Giménez and 46 other Republican representatives voted for the

Respect for Marriage Act The Respect for Marriage Act (RFMA; ) is a landmark United States federal law passed by the 117th United States Congress in 2022 and signed into law by President Joe Biden. It repeals the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), requires the U.S. federal ...

, which would codify the right to same-sex marriage in federal law.

Gun rights

In March 2021, Giménez was one of eight Republicans to join the House majority in passing the

Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021 The Bipartisan Background Checks Act was a proposed United States law that would establish new background check requirements for firearm transfers between private parties. It would prohibit a firearm transfer between private parties until a licens ...

Veterans

Giménez voted against the

Honoring our PACT Act of 2022 The Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022, known as the Honoring our PACT Act of 2022, or even more colloquially as "the PACT Act," is an Act of Congress that authorized $797 billio ...

which authorized $797 billion in new spending and expanded VA benefits to veterans exposed to toxic chemicals during their military service.

Electoral history

Personal life

Giménez is married to Lourdes Portela, with whom he has three children. Giménez is

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

References

External links

Representative Carlos Giménez
official U.S. House website
Campaign website
* * , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Gimenez, Carlos A. 1954 births 20th-century American firefighters 21st-century mayors of places in Florida 21st-century members of the United States House of Representatives American anti-communists American fire chiefs American politicians of Cuban descent Barry University alumni Catholic politicians from Florida California Republicans Christopher Columbus High School (Miami-Dade County, Florida) alumni County commissioners in Florida Cuban anti-communists Cuban emigrants to the United States Exiles of the Cuban Revolution in the United States Hispanic and Latino American members of the United States Congress Harvard Kennedy School alumni Latino conservatism in the United States Living people Mayors of Miami-Dade County, Florida Naturalized citizens of the United States Politicians from Havana Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Florida