http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0210/32829.html
“”Diaz-Balart, who has served in the House since 1992, is the 18th House Republican who will not seek reelection in November. Most hail from solidly Republican districts, though Diaz-Balart’s Miami-based seat has the potential to be competitive—it delivered 49 percent of the vote to President Obama in the 2008 presidential election.
Democrats made made substantial gains in Diaz-Balart’s 21st District during the 2008 presidential election, paring down the 9-percentage-point voter registration edge the GOP enjoyed in 2006 to only three points after the November 2008 election.
Born in Havana, Diaz-Balart is one of the first Cuban-Americans elected to Congress and is a leading hardliner against the Castro-led Cuban government. He faced his toughest re-election campaign in 2008 against former Hialeah mayor Raul Martinez, but comfortably defeated him with 58 percent of the vote.””
Do we need a hispanic candidate to win this district? Many of the ex-Cubans are pretty conservative, but may be weak on amnesty.
The Republicans have had an epic fail in distinguishing between hispanic citizens and hispanic illegals. Jorge Bush takes much of the blame for that.
It should be possible to find someone, maybe Hispanic, who makes the distinction.