Carlos Curbelo

Carlos Luis Curbelo (born March 1, 1980) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Florida's 26th congressional district from 2015 to 2019.

Curbelo previously served on the Miami-Dade County Public Schools board from 2010 to 2015.

He won the seat vacated by Ana Rivas Logan.

Curbelo represented the 7th district.

He was succeeded by Lubby Navarro on the school board.

Curbelo is the founder of Capitol Gains, a government and public relations firm.

He is also a former state director for former U.S. senator George LeMieux of Florida.

In the 115th Congress, Curbelo sat on the following committee and subcommittees:

Curbelo has a reputation as a moderate Republican.

According to McClatchy, "Curbelo has broken ranks with his party to take lonely stands on high-profile topics ranging from abortion and women’s health to climate change, the environment, immigration and government spending."

Curbelo was ranked the fourth most bipartisan member of the U.S. House of Representatives during first session of the 115th United States Congress by the Bipartisan Index, created by The Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy to assess congressional bipartisanship.

Along with Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, he was one of two Republican members of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus who served in the 115th United States Congress.

The following is an incomplete list of legislation that Curbelo sponsored:

Vote Smart, a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States, "researched presidential and congressional candidates' public records to determine candidates' likely responses on certain key issues."

In the 2014 election, Curbelo defeated incumbent Joe Garcia of the Democratic Party by 52 to 48 percent.

Curbelo ran for re-election in 2016.

He was unopposed in the Republican primary.

In the general election, Curbelo defeated Garcia in a rematch.

Curbelo received 53% of the vote.

Curbelo was challenged by Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell in one of the most hotly contested House races in Florida.

Curbelo was significantly outspent during the campaign, as national Democrats eyed a pick-up opportunity in a district that had been won by Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.

According to Vote Smart's 2016 analysis, Curbelo generally supports anti-abortion legislation, opposes an income tax increase, opposes mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders, supports lowering taxes as a means of promoting economic growth, opposes requiring states to adopt federal education standards, supports building the Keystone Pipeline, supports government funding for the development of renewable energy, supports the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions, supports repealing the Affordable Care Act, opposes requiring immigrants who are unlawfully present to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship, supports same-sex marriage, supports increased American intervention in Iraq and Syria beyond air support, and supports allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts.

In November 2017, Curbelo made a bid to join the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which is made up of 30 Democratic members of Congress.

After Curbelo made a presentation to the group, caucus membership took a vote and a majority refused to admit him to its membership.

Members of the caucus cited Curbelo's vote in favor of repealing Obamacare as a reason to deny him membership, and that Curbelo had not yet signed on as a cosponsor of the DREAM Act, though he said he would vote in favor of any proposal to help undocumented youth who came to the U.S. as children.

In 2018, he was narrowly defeated for re-election by Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell.

He is a member of the Republican Party.

Prior to his election to the U.S. House, he served on the Dade County School Board.

Curbelo was born in Miami, the son of Cuban exiles in Florida.

He attended Belen Jesuit Preparatory School.

He attended the University of Miami, where he earned bachelor's and master's degrees in public administration.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spent more money (nearly $7.2 million) in the district than in any other race in 2018.

House Majority PAC, a Democratic super PAC, spent about $2.5 million in the race.

In the November 2018 general election, Mucarsel-Powell defeated Curbelo with 50.9% of the vote to Curbelo's 49.1%.

Reflecting on his election loss, Curbelo said the Republican Party "has to understand that if we're going to have a small government, free enterprise party in America, that Trumpism isn't the future for such a party."

In January 2018, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus announced that its political arm would support Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell in her 2018 bid for Curbelo's seat.

In an editorial, the Miami Herald criticized the caucus's decision to exclude Curbelo from its ranks, writing that "not letting Curbelo join the caucus remains a short-sighted, spiteful move" and that "The caucus should make clear that it's an exclusive club for Democrats, and that Republicans need not apply—even if they're Hispanic."

As of September 2018, Curbelo had voted with his party 86.3% of the time in the 115th United States Congress.

Curbelo was a member of the United States Congressional International Conservation Caucus, the

Republican Main Street Partnership the Climate Solutions Caucus, and the U.S.-Japan Caucus.