Anitere Flores is a Republican politician who has served as a member of the Florida Senate since 2010. She currently represents the 39th district, which encompasses Monroe County and parts of southern and western Miami-Dade County. Prior to Flores' election to the Senate, she served three terms in the Florida House of Representatives, representing the 114th district from 2004 to 2010. In the 2018–2020 legislative session, Flores serves as Deputy Majority Leader for the Republican Party.
In 2004, incumbent State RepresentativeGaston Cantens declined to seek re-election in the 114th District, which stretched from University Park to South Miami Heights in Miami-Dade County. With Cantens' endorsement, Flores ran in the Republican primary to succeed him, facing former State Representative Carlos A. Manrique, Victor Bao, Joel Bello, Lisa Sacco, and Luis E. Orta. Flores won the primary handily, receiving 56% of the vote, and advanced to the general election, where she faced businesswoman and Kendall community council member Millie Herrera, the Democratic nominee. Flores defeated Herrera by a wide margin, winning 64% of the vote to Herrera's 36%. Flores was re-elected without opposition in 2006 and 2008. During her career in the Florida House, Flores served as Deputy Majority Leader, Chair of the PreK-12 Appropriations Committee, and Chair of the PreK-12 Policy Committee. In order to increase college completion, she passed legislation that created a scholarship program for students who are the first in their family to attend college.
Florida Senate
When State Senator J. Alex Villalobos was unable to seek re-election due to term limits, Flores ran to succeed him in the 38th District, which stretched from Doral to Homestead. She faced David Nelson in the Republican primary and defeated him handily, winning 81% of the vote to Nelson's 19%. Flores faced veterinarian Les Gerson, the Democratic nominee, in the general election. After vastly outspending Gerson, Flores won the seat in a landslide, receiving 68% of the vote to Gerson's 32%. Following the reconfiguration of the state's legislative districts, Flores ran for re-election in the 37th District, which contained most of the territory that she had previously represented. She was unopposed in the Republican primary and the general election, and won her second term uncontested. As a member of the Florida Senate, Flores is presently Chair of the Fiscal Policy Committee, and sits on the Budget Subcommittee on Criminal and Civil Justice, the Ethics and Elections Committee, the Health Policy Committee, the Regulated Industry Committee, and the Appropriations Committee. From 2010-2012, Flores also served as the Majority Whip. In the Senate, she has championed several issues important to South Florida, including working towards finding affordable options for property insurance. Flores also serves on various national and community boards. She is a member of the National Assessment Governing Board, the National Association of Latino Elected Officials, and the Board of Spectrum Programs, Inc.. Flores is the first Republican Hispanic woman to serve in both the Florida House and Senate since 1986. Due to her unwavering support of education, the American entrepreneurial spirit as well as the elderly, she was most recently recognized in The Huffington Post's “40 under 40: Latinos in American Politics.” Her campaign website describes her as a conservative. In 2015, litigation concerning Florida Senate maps was resolved with an admission by the Senate that the maps violated the Fair Districts provision of the Florida Constitution. Following the inability of the legislature to create and pass new maps into law, the Florida Supreme Court selected maps drawn by the League of Women Voters of Florida. Consequently, Flores' home was drawn into the 40th District, the same district in which fellow State Senator Dwight Bullard lived. Flores decided to run for re-election in the 39th District instead, given that she was raised in that district and previously represented portions of it. Flores defeated Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell in the general election, 54 to 46%. During the opening of the 2018 Florida Legislative Session, Flores and Democratic Florida legislator Oscar Braynon jointly apologized for an extramarital affair they had after an anonymous website uploaded a video showing Flores entering and leaving Braynon's apartment on multiple occasions.
