Carlos Lopez-Cantera


Carlos Lopez-Cantera is an American politician who served as the 19th Lieutenant Governor of Florida from 2014 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he was elected property appraiser of Miami-Dade County on August 14, 2012 and previously represented the 113th district in the Florida House of Representatives from November 2, 2004, where he served as the Majority Leader during the final two years of his term. On January 14, 2014, Governor Rick Scott announced Lopez-Cantera's appointment to serve out the term of Jennifer Carroll, who resigned on March 12, 2013.

Early life and education

Lopez-Cantera was born in Madrid, Spain, the son of Cuban Carlos Lopez-Cantera and Esther "Shelly" Smith Fano. His father is Catholic and his mother is Jewish. He was born two months prematurely and returned with his parents to reside in Miami, Florida, once he was healthy enough to travel. He earned an Associate of Arts degree from Miami-Dade Community College in 1994 and a Bachelor of Business Administration with a minor in political science from the University of Miami in 1996.

Political career

In 1997, he was a facilitator for the Florida Senate's criminal justice committee. In 2002, he made an unsuccessful bid for a seat in the Florida House of Representatives. Two years later, Lopez-Cantera won his first election to the Florida House of Representatives to the 113th District in November 2004, and was successively reelected in 2006, 2008 and in 2010 when he defeated US Navy veteran and rising democratic party star Alex Cruzet. He was House majority whip from 2008 to 2010 and the House Majority Leader from 2010 to 2012.
Lopez-Cantera was twice elected by his colleagues from Miami-Dade County to be the chairman of the Miami-Dade Legislative Delegation from 2011-2012. On August 14, 2012, he became the second property appraiser to be elected by the citizens of Miami-Dade, a county with a population of more than 2.5 million people and almost 1,000,000 properties. On July 15, 2015, Lopez-Cantera announced his candidacy to run in the 2016 United States Senate election in Florida to replace retiring Senator Marco Rubio, who was running for president of the United States. However, Lopez-Cantera withdrew from the race following Rubio's announcement that he would seek reelection to the Senate, reversing his initial pledge not to run, on June 22, 2016.

Personal life

Lopez-Cantera has been married to his wife Renee since 2005. They have two daughters.

Electoral history