Lincoln Díaz Balart

Early Life and Education

Díaz-Balart was born in Havana, Cuba to the late Cuban politician Rafael Díaz-Balart and Hilda Caballero Brunet. His aunt, Mirta Díaz-Balart, was the first wife of the late Fidel Castro. Her son, and his cousin, is Dr. Fidel Ángel "Fidelito" Castro Díaz-Balart. His uncle is the Cuban-Spanish painter, Waldo Díaz-Balart.

He was educated at American School of Madrid, Madrid, Spain; New College of Florida; and Case Western Reserve University, from which he earned a law degree. He was involved in a Miami private practice for several years before holding elective office.

Political career

In 1982, he ran for a Florida House of Representatives seat for District 113 as a Democrat and lost to the Republican, Humberto Cortina.

Díaz-Balart as well as his immediate family were all members of the Democratic Party. Díaz-Balart was the former president of the Dade County Young Democrats and the Florida Young Democrats, as well as a member of the executive committee of the Dade County Democratic Party. On April 24, 1985, Diaz-Balart along with his wife and brother Mario switched their registration to Republican.

Díaz-Balart served in the Florida House of Representatives from 1986 to 1989 and served in the Florida Senate from 1989 to 1992.

Congressional Committee Assignments

Party leadership

Political positions

In general, Diaz-Balart's voting record has been moderate by Republican standards. His lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union is 73.

In 1994, he was one of only three Republican incumbents not to sign the Republican Contract with America. He objected to provisions in its welfare reform section that would deny federal programs to legal immigrants.

In 2006, he voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment and in 2009 voted for the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which expanded the federal hate crime law to include a person's perceived gender, sexual orientation, identity or disability. In December 2010, Diaz-Balart was one of fifteen Republican House members to vote in favor of repealing the United States military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ban on openly gay service members.

He was a sponsor of the Homeland Security Act. He was a sponsor of the DREAM Act which seeks to facilitate access for illegal immigrant students to post-secondary education by allowing states to have power to determine requirements for in-state tuition. He remains a steadfast proponent of comprehensive immigration reform. He has been a key figure in south Florida bringing millions of dollars to the community most notably one hundred million dollars to the US Southern Command, which is housed in district 21.

He achieved passage into law of historic pieces of legislation – such as the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (NACARA), and the codification of the U.S. embargo on Cuba (requiring that all political prisoners be freed and multi-party elections scheduled in Cuba before U.S. sanctions can be lifted). Diaz-Balart took the rule to the floor of the House for passage of the legislation that created the Department of Homeland Security and the extension (for 25 years) of the Voting Rights Act.

Cuba

Diaz-Balart plays a prominent role in the Cuban-American lobby, and was active in the attempt by relatives of Elian Gonzalez to gain custody of the six-year-old from his Cuban father.

Diaz-Balart has advocated an oil embargo on the Cuban regime. His codification into law of U.S. sanctions prevents the U.S. Administration from normalizing economic relations with Cuba before a democratic transition is underway on the island. El Instituto La Rosa Blanca works to keep up to date the plan for the reconstruction of post-Castro Cuba drafted by the late Rafael Diaz-Balart, who founded La Rosa Blanca as the first organization to fight the Castro regime, in New York, in January 1959.

Congressman Diaz-Balart was a member of the Congressional Cuba Democracy Caucus.

Haiti

Diaz-Balart was an advocate of the improved treatment of Haitian immigrants. He was a strong supporter HRIFA, legislation that provided for the legalization of many Haitian immigrants. More recently, Diaz-Balart has called for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to include Haitian nationals. TPS provides immediate and temporary relief from deportation.

Healthcare

In March 2010, Diaz-Balart publicly called the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act “a decisive step in the weakening of the United States.”

2008 Financial crisis

On September 29, 2008, Diaz-Balart voted against the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 "American taxpayers should not have to foot the bill for the irresponsible behavior of Wall Street executives. The average citizen is forced to play by the rules, yet many who did not now get a massive bailout from taxpayers in this plan. This is fundamentally unfair. By bailing out reckless behavior we encourage future reckless behavior."

1992 Through 1998

In 1992, Diaz-Balart defeated fellow State Senator Javier Souto in the Republican primary for the newly created 21st District. No other party put up a candidate, assuring Diaz-Balart's election. He was unopposed for reelection in 1994, 1996, 2000 and 2002 and defeated Democrat, Patrick Cusack, with 75 percent in 1998.

2004 and 2006

In both 2004 and 2006, Lincoln Diaz-Balart was unsuccessfully challenged by Frank J. Gonzalez [1], a Libertarian Party candidate in 2004 and Democrat in 2006. In 2004 Diaz-Balart won with 73% of the vote. In 2006, Diaz-Balart won with 59% of the vote.

In 2004, Gonzalez ran for U.S. House as the Libertarian Party candidate and spent around $12,000 and earned 54,736 votes or 27% of the total.

In 2006, Gonzalez managed to earn 45,522 votes or 41% according to the Florida Department of State's Division of Elections website.

2008

Diaz-Balart's Democratic opponent in 2008 was former Hialeah Mayor Raul L. Martinez. It was initially thought that Diaz-Balart would face his toughest race to date. Although the 21st District is considered the most Republican district in the Miami area, Martinez was thought to be very popular in the area. Nevertheless, Diaz-Balart won re-election with 58% of the vote.

2010

In February 2010, Diaz-Balart announced his intention not to seek re-election. His brother, Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart, ran to succeed him and won.

Personal life

Díaz-Balart is married to Cristina Fernandez, and had two children: Lincoln and Daniel. Lincoln died on May 19, 2013 at the age of 29. His family said he had battled depression for many years.

Díaz-Balart's brother, Mario Díaz-Balart, previously represented the 25th district of Florida but now represents the 21st district. He has two other brothers, Jose Diaz-Balart, a journalist, and Rafael Díaz-Balart, a consultant.