Florida House District 119: Rey Sordo endorsed over Juan Carlos Porras

Miami-Dade Democrats have endorsed Rey Sordo for Florida House District 119, challenging Republican incumbent Juan Carlos Porras in a district that includes much of West Kendall and South Miami-Dade.

Sordo was born and raised in South Miami-Dade in a Cuban family and has spent his working life much like many of the people he hopes to represent: working retail and restaurant jobs, tending bar, running a small business and putting himself through college. His campaign is centered on a straightforward concern facing families across District 119: whether they can still afford to live in the community they call home.

Porras has represented the district since 2022. On some of the biggest issues facing South Florida families, including insurance, public education, reproductive freedom and immigration, his record reflects the broader Republican agenda that has dominated Tallahassee.

For District 119 voters, the race presents a clear choice between continuing that approach and electing a representative focused on affordability and the everyday pressures facing West Kendall families.

A Life That Looks Like District 119

Sordo understands those pressures firsthand.

He has worked retail floors, waited tables, tended bar and managed a restaurant while attending college and building a small business. His platform focuses heavily on the cost of living, with proposals addressing housing, hidden fees, insurance, transportation and wages.

On homeowners insurance, Sordo is calling for greater scrutiny of rate increases, stronger protections against delayed or denied claims, expanded mitigation credits and greater accountability for both Citizens and private insurers.

It is an agenda built around a basic reality: people who grew up in South Miami-Dade are increasingly wondering whether they can afford to stay.

Insurance Costs Are Still Too High

Porras has identified homeowners insurance as an important issue, but his assessment of Tallahassee's response has differed sharply from the experience of many homeowners.

During his 2024 reelection campaign, Porras told the Miami Herald Editorial Board that the Legislature had done a "fantastic job" trying to stabilize Florida's insurance market. The Herald noted that while some stabilization had occurred, homeowners were still waiting for actual relief.

That distinction matters.

For families paying thousands more for coverage than they did only a few years ago, success should be measured not by whether Tallahassee considers the market stabilized, but by whether homeowners can actually afford their premiums.

Public Schools or Tallahassee's Political Agenda?

Education offers another clear contrast.

Sordo is a Miami Dade College student who has worked while putting himself through school. His platform calls for increased public-school funding, better teacher recruitment and retention, mental-health resources and stronger after-school and food-security programs for working families.

Porras has instead been closely aligned with Tallahassee's school-choice agenda. In 2023, he was a co-sponsor of HB 1, the sweeping legislation that expanded Florida's taxpayer-funded scholarship programs to virtually every K-12 student in the state, regardless of family income.

He has also devoted legislative attention to more symbolic education fights. In 2025, Porras sponsored the "Gulf of America" law requiring newly adopted school instructional materials and library collections to use the federal government's renamed designation for the Gulf of Mexico.

District 119 families deserve a Legislature focused less on political messaging and more on making sure neighborhood schools have the teachers and resources students need.

Personal Freedom and Reproductive Rights

The candidates also offer a sharp contrast over the role government should play in personal decisions.

Sordo says government should stay out of people's private and medical choices and that Floridians should be treated equally regardless of their background, faith or whom they love.

Porras has taken a very different position on abortion.

During his first campaign for the Legislature in 2022, he told the Miami Herald that he was "completely against abortion." He supported Florida's 15-week ban and said he would support a complete abortion ban even without exceptions for rape or incest.

That is a fundamental difference over whether deeply personal medical decisions should belong to families or politicians in Tallahassee.

Immigration and South Florida's Values

Immigration presents another important contrast in a district shaped by generations of immigrant families.

Sordo was raised in a Cuban family whose story, like so many in Miami-Dade, is rooted in coming to the United States in search of opportunity.

Porras, meanwhile, supported Gov. Ron DeSantis's controversial program using Florida taxpayer money to transport migrants to Democratic-led communities outside Florida. During his 2022 campaign, he defended the flights that sent migrants, including Venezuelan asylum seekers, to Martha's Vineyard.

For a community so profoundly shaped by immigration and political refugees, voters should consider whether that approach reflects South Miami-Dade's values.

The Choice in District 119

This race is ultimately about priorities.

Porras has praised Tallahassee's handling of the insurance market while homeowners continue waiting for meaningful relief. He co-sponsored Florida's major voucher expansion, sponsored legislation dictating what schools call the Gulf of Mexico, and has supported severe restrictions on abortion and DeSantis's migrant relocation program.

Rey Sordo offers a different focus.

He is a South Miami-Dade native, service worker, college student and small-business owner running on affordability, insurance reform, public education, responsible growth and the freedom of families to make their own personal decisions.

District 119 needs a representative focused on making South Miami-Dade a place where working families can afford to stay and the next generation can afford to build a future.

The Miami-Dade Democratic Party has endorsed Rey Sordo for Florida House District 119.