Another Miamian is ascending to lead Florida House. Daniel Perez values family, hard work

Miami’s influence over statewide politics became stronger Monday as Rep. Daniel Perez was designated speaker of the Florida House for the 2024-26 legislative term, becoming the second presiding officer from Miami in the last decade.

Perez, 36, a Republican, will assume control at a time when his party holds a super majority in both chambers and controls all statewide offices in Florida. But, despite his youth, his supporters say his reputation as a “straight shooter” and a self-confident, well-respected leader has many expecting him to chart his own course in a Legislature that for years has been overshadowed by the culture war agenda of an ambitious governor.

“He’s going to take the House back,’’ said Rep. Vicki Lopez, a Miami Republican who will be working with Perez to craft legislation next session relating to another round of condominium reforms.

“The impression is that the governor has had a very strong influence on the Legislature,” as leaders in the House and Senate wanted to help him seek the presidency, she said. But whether or not Gov. Ron DeSantis wins the GOP nomination and presidency, Lopez said Perez’s “personality is more inclined to say: ‘the House is the House, and I need this chamber to have priorities’.”

Perez didn’t spell out his agenda for his term as speaker during his designation ceremony speech, but told reporters afterward that the “only” issue he hears people ask about when he knocks on doors in his Westchester neighborhood is “property insurance.” He promised to continue “chipping away” at the issue but offered no immediate remedies.

Perez told his colleagues he would focus on “limited government,” would work to “balance the competing needs of our state,” and would not use the power of government to enable only one point of view.

“Just because we have the power to do a thing, doesn’t necessarily mean that we should. And just because we think we are right. It doesn’t mean we are justified,’’ he said. “If the only people allowed to be free are the people who are doing what we want them to do, then we have forgotten what freedom really means. The problem with wielding the power of government like a hammer is that the people start looking like nails.”

A child of Cuban immigrants, having an autistic sibling

Shaping his agenda, Perez said, was his upbringing as the oldest child of Cuban immigrants in a family with a younger brother, Brian, with autism. He spoke about how his family struggled with accessing services for his brother as eligibility requirements often changed for no reason.

“My brother’s condition and my parents also taught me what really matters in life,’’ he said. “The patience I learned from being with my brother, made me impatient in so many ways...Interpersonal drama is a waste of time. The simple things in life are so special. And I cannot tolerate incompetence in government.”

Perez acknowledged his friendship with incoming Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Bartow, and talked about his growth as a legislator.

“I’m not the same man who walked through those chamber doors for the first time,’’ he said. “I know more about the things that I know but more importantly, I know more about what I don’t know.”

Rep. Lawrence McClure, R-Plant City, Perez’s closest friend in the state House nominated Perez. As his Tallahassee roommate since they both were elected in special elections in 2017, McClure said Perez’s ”greatest quality is his competitive spirit and desire to be competitive.”

In the last four years, the Legislature earned a national reputation as a rubber stamp for DeSantis as he worked to push the already conservative Florida Legislature further to the right to demonstrate he could be a viable Republican alternative to former President Donald Trump for the presidency.

As DeSantis’ standing in national polls continues to sink farther behind Trump in the GOP presidential nomination race, the changing political dynamics could leave DeSantis as a lame duck governor and give Perez and Albritton leverage over the governor if they choose to use it.

“He has a real opportunity to govern, to lead the state,” said Carlos Trujillo, a former state legislator who has known Perez for 15 years and is the former law partner of Perez’s best friend, Andrew Vargas.

Trujillo said he expects Perez’s agenda will be less focused on ideological culture wars that have defined DeSantis’ tenure as governor and “more focused on how [government] affects your average Floridian.”

That includes tackling homeowner’s insurance, housing affordability, “the challenges of all the safety nets and the vulnerable populations that we have in our state,’’ said Trujillo, who served for four years in the Trump administration.

Sen. Ana Maria Rodriguez, a Miami Republican, said the political dynamics in the GOP presidential race could change how DeSantis handles the Legislature going forward.

“Before session ended, he [DeSantis] was clearly on a different trajectory, and that has changed,’’ she said. “So now, I think that it will probably change the way he may govern.”

Endorsing DeSantis for GOP nomination

Perez has endorsed DeSantis for president and worked to advance much of the governor’s agenda. As the national chair of the American Legislative Exchange Council, a consortium of conservative legislators, Perez has also echoed many of the conservative talking points used by the governor.

On Sunday night, DeSantis attended a small reception that served as the precursor for Perez’s formal designation ceremony. A who’s who of Miami politicos and Florida Republicans attended the Monday morning ceremony at the Capitol. Among them: Congressman Matt Gaetz, former state senator Frank Artiles, Florida’s former business regulation chief Halsey Beshears, former Florida State University President John Thrasher and New College interim president and former House Speaker Richard Corcoran.

In 2022, Perez shepherded through the House the governor’s election overhaul bill that created a new elections security office to investigate election fraud. Although election fraud is exceedingly rare, Perez called the measure an “extra resource” for local election supervisors to ensure “there are absolutely no cases falling through the cracks.”

Perez was first elected to represent House District 116 seat in a 2017 special election to replace former Republican Rep. Jose Felix Diaz, who left office to run unsuccessfully for the state Senate seat vacated by Artiles.

The district includes Sweetwater, parts of West Miami and South Miami. Perez won reelection in 2018 and again in 2020 even though he was targeted for defeat by a powerful member of the Miami delegation, outgoing House Speaker José Oliva of Miami Lakes.

In that race, Perez drew a pro-Trump challenger from the right, Gabriel Garcia. Oliva’s adviser, David Custin, directed mailers and Facebook ads attacking Perez over a trip he took in 2017 to Cuba with his fiancee, during which they snapped engagement photos.

Perez and his wife, Stephanie, now have two children and are expecting a third child soon.

How colleagues view Perez

Several lobbyists and Perez’s legislative colleagues describe him as “hard-working,” “honest,” “well-liked” and “respected.”

“Danny’s strong suit is his ability to forge deep interpersonal relationships with other members of the Legislature,’’ said Nick Iarossi, a Tallahassee lobbyist and one of his earliest supporters.

Iarossi was among several lobbyists and legislators who gathered in Napa Valley earlier this month for a fundraising weekend for the House 2024 reelection effort, which Perez will lead. Also in attendance was Lieutenant Gov. Jeanette Nuñez, who is also from Miami.

Rather than remain seated during one elegant dinner, Perez worked the room, “like a restaurateur,” Iarossi recalled.

“He is always walking around, talking to everybody in the room, making them feel welcome, asking them how things are going in their life, and being attentive,’’ he said. “Building relationships is his superpower.”

Lopez, the Miami lawmaker, spent a career as an advocate and lobbyist before being elected to the state House. She now represents a moderate district and has taken several votes that went against the Republican caucus position on immigration, abortion, guns and unions.

She said that Perez’s willingness to not only listen to her but support her even when he disagreed “was remarkable.”

“I would talk to him a lot about those votes prior to taking them and he was always like, ‘Listen, Vicki, you have to be a true representative of your district.’ ” she said.. “Which is so unusual if you know former speakers. He never makes me feel like somehow I’m on the out….And he had a better understanding of my district than anyone else.”

Trujillo predicted Perez will “be transparent” about the positions he takes, be willing to defend them, and “not run from the media interview.”

McClure agreed that Perez’s style will be one that is “open to a member-driven process.”

“He understands that no matter what the legislation is, if we don’t have the debate, if we don’t have the dialogue in it, we’re not earnest in those conversations as a legislature, you’re not going to get a great product,” he said.

Perez urges colleagues to do their homework

In his speech to his House colleagues, Perez urged them to spend “less time in the social scenes of Tallahassee and more time doing your homework. It means being a person who has hard questions, really listening to their answers and being willing to challenge your own assumptions.”

“Members. If you want to have a voice You must have something unique to say,’’ he said.

Iarossi said he thinks Perez will apply his relationship skills if he or his caucus disagree with the governor.

“I don’t think Danny’s coming in with any type of chip on his shoulder about anything that’s occurred up until this point,’’ he said. And when it’s time to take a different approach than one advanced by DeSantis or the Senate, Iarossi said Perez will “work through those issues in a collaborative way and avoid these public fights, because that’s his style.”

A lawyer by trade, Perez has shown to be a good fundraiser — having raised more than $9.5 million since 2017. His campaign finance reports show a mix of contributions from trial lawyers, who played a significant role in helping him win the speaker’s race, and traditional large donors like Publix, Duke Energy and the Seminole Tribe, who generally give large sums to those marked for leadership positions in the Legislature.

Perez graduated from Florida State University in 2009 and received his law degree from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law in 2012.

Since he was first elected, Perez has filed several bills to financially support the WOW Center, a nonprofit organization in his district that teaches job skills to adults with developmental disabilities, and has used the state budget process to direct hundreds of thousands in funds to the center as well. Alexander Díaz-Cruz, a client of the WOW Center, sang the national anthem at the designation ceremony.

As a memento of the ceremony, House members were given framed handwritten letters from someone who was part of Brigade 2506, the Cuban-exile group that attempted to overthrow Fidel Castro in the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion in 1960.

Condo safety a legislative priority

In 2022, Perez was the House’s lead negotiator in passing legislation designed to strengthen condo safety after the devastating collapse of Champlain Towers South in Surfside. Lopez led the House’s effort in revising the law last session, and expects to take the lead on more changes this year.

Ron Book, a veteran lobbyist who represents many Miami clients, said he expects Perez to try to have an impact on healthcare, affordable housing and transportation, especially in areas “where we have those local demands and needs.”

Miami state Sen. Ileana Garcia, a Republican, said she has already spoken to Perez about engaging the Legislature to make statutory changes that will offer protections to residents of homeowners associations and increase access to association financial records.

Rodriguez, the state senator from Miami, is hopeful that Perez’s tenure will mean good news for Miami-Dade County.

“It’s always good to have a presiding office from your hometown,” said Rodriguez, noting how historically, a presiding officer is usually able to champion causes for their home turf.

Florida House rules allow each party’s caucus to designate a member to be House speaker as early as six years in advance of assuming the job. The wind up gives incoming leaders time to prepare for the two-year sprint that is their final term because of the state’s eight-year term-limit rule.

Because Perez was first elected to office in a special election in June 2017, he had an extra six months in the race for the speaker of the 2024-26 term. In August 2020, he defeated Rep. Will Robinson, R-Bradenton, to lead the caucus and has chosen several members of the 2017 class to be members of his leadership team. He will succeed Rep. Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast.

In addition to McClure, others members of Perez’ leadership team include Rep. Josie Tomkow, R-Plant City, and Rep. John Snyder, R-Hobe Sound.

Perez has disclosed a net worth of $2.3 million, much of it from his stake in a South Florida healthcare network — UNNO Healthcare and UNNO Medical Centers. A $150,000 investment to the network in 2018 boosted his net worth from $420,000 that year to $2.3 million by the end of 2022, records show.

Mary Ellen Klas can be reached at meklas@miamiherald.com and @MaryEllenKlas