MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — The son of a Venezuelan pastor with experience as a Google executive announced he is running to challenge U.S. Rep. Carlos Giménez, a former Miami-Dade mayor who has served in Congress since 2021.
Hector Mujica, a Florida International University graduate who earned a master’s in public policy from UC Berkeley, has experience as the head of economic opportunity Americas at Google’s philanthropy arm.
Mujica, 37, a Venezuelan-American entrepreneur who also has experience on Google’s Latino Leadership Council, launched his candidacy for Florida’s 28th Congressional District with a campaign video that focused on affordability.
“For too long, this district has had the same kind of leadership, focused on political theater in Washington while families here face rising costs, housing pressures, and an economy that no longer works the way it used to,” Mujica said in his campaign video.
Mujica, who is married to Tara Jafarmadar Mujica and has a son named Luca, said “the power of America’s middle class” was what attracted his Venezuelan family to South Florida.
“We can keep sending the same politicians to Washington while Miami grows more expensive, more corrupt, and harder to live in — or we can choose new leadership that understands firsthand what families in South Florida face and how hard it has become to build a stable life in today’s economy,” Mujica said.
Florida Politics reported on Wednesday that before the Iran war impacted gas prices, a new poll found that Giménez was running just 6% points ahead of Mujica, with 14% undecided.
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Mujica’s campaign video
Giménez‘s campaign video
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