Florida House District 118: A.C. Castillo Endorsed Over Mike Redondo

Miami-Dade Democrats have endorsed A.C. Castillo for Florida House District 118 in his race against Republican incumbent Mike Redondo.

A Miami native and longtime District 118 resident, Castillo comes to the race as a union worker, labor advocate and former member of the West Kendall Community Council. His campaign is focused on affordability, property insurance, housing, public education and giving working families a stronger voice in Tallahassee.

The contrast with Redondo is significant. In just a few years in the Legislature, Redondo has risen quickly within the Republican leadership while building a multimillion-dollar campaign operation backed heavily by corporate and industry interests.

Florida House District 118: A.C. Castillo Endorsed Over Mike Redondo

Miami-Dade Democrats have endorsed A.C. Castillo for Florida House District 118 in his race against Republican incumbent Mike Redondo.

A Miami native and longtime District 118 resident, Castillo comes to the race as a union worker, labor advocate and former member of the West Kendall Community Council. His campaign is focused on affordability, property insurance, housing, public education and giving working families a stronger voice in Tallahassee.

The contrast with Redondo is significant. In just a few years in the Legislature, Redondo has risen quickly within the Republican leadership while building a multimillion-dollar campaign operation backed heavily by corporate and industry interests.

A Working-Class Candidate From District 118

Castillo describes himself simply: a regular guy who clocks in and out of work.

A Miami native and the son of Cuban immigrants, he has lived in District 118 for more than 30 years. His wife is a public school teacher, his children attend local public schools, and Castillo himself has spent decades as a union worker.

He serves as Political Committee Chair of Transport Workers Union Local 568 and founded UnionMatters.org, which focuses on labor issues and the history of the labor movement. He has also studied labor history and union leadership through the George Meany Labor College, Cornell University and the International Labour Organization.

The Transport Workers Union Florida State Conference has endorsed Castillo.

Castillo says his campaign is about what he calls "paycheck politics": focusing on the everyday pressures facing people who work for a living rather than the political fights that dominate Tallahassee.

Affordability, Housing and Public Schools

Castillo has made Florida's affordability crisis central to his campaign.

On property insurance, he supports expanding incentives for home hardening and wind mitigation while pushing for policies that put homeowners ahead of insurance companies.

On housing, he argues that working families are increasingly being priced out of the communities where they live and work. He has also called for stronger investment in public transportation as development continues across South and West Miami-Dade.

Education is personal for Castillo. His wife teaches in the public school system, and his children attend public schools in the district. He supports higher teacher pay and has criticized the diversion of public education dollars toward an expanded private-school voucher system.

His approach to development also reflects his experience on the West Kendall Community Council. Castillo opposed redevelopment of the former Calusa golf course and voted against a proposed waste facility in West Kendall, arguing that major development decisions should take the interests of surrounding residents seriously.

Redondo's Rise in Tallahassee

Redondo was first elected to the Florida House in a 2023 special election and has moved rapidly through the Republican ranks.

His Republican colleagues have already selected him to become House Speaker following the 2030 elections, assuming he remains in the Legislature. He also chairs the House Select Committee on Congressional Redistricting, placing him at the center of Florida's mid-decade effort to redraw congressional boundaries.

Redondo also sponsored the 2026 expansion of Florida's Live Local Act, which further limited some local zoning authority in the name of increasing housing supply.

That presents a particularly clear contrast with Castillo, whose public service has centered on neighborhood-level decisions and protecting residents' ability to shape development in their communities.

Immigration and the Trump-DeSantis Enforcement Agenda

Immigration is another area where the candidates' backgrounds and political priorities diverge.

Castillo is the son of Cuban immigrants who came to the United States in search of freedom and a better life. His campaign places that immigrant family story alongside his emphasis on working families, labor and economic opportunity.

Redondo is also the son of Cuban immigrants, but politically he has aligned himself closely with Donald Trump's immigration and "America First" agenda. His campaign prominently describes him as a "Trump Republican" and an "America First" conservative.

That alignment has also shown up in his voting record.

In 2025, Redondo voted for SB 2-C, a sweeping immigration-enforcement law that created a State Board of Immigration Enforcement within the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The law directs the board to serve as a resource for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, coordinate with the federal government on immigration enforcement, require law-enforcement agencies to comply with immigration detainers and provide inmate information to federal authorities upon request.

Redondo also supported SB 4-C, which created new state crimes for certain unauthorized immigrants who enter Florida after evading federal immigration inspection or return after deportation or removal. The law also bars people charged under those provisions from certain diversion programs.

For a district shaped by generations of immigrants, those votes provide a clear policy contrast. Castillo frames the immigrant experience around working families and opportunity, while Redondo has backed legislation expanding Florida's role in immigration enforcement and cooperation with ICE.

Millions From Corporate and Industry Interests

Perhaps the sharpest contrast in the race is how the two campaigns are financed.

Florida Politics reported that Redondo had raised approximately $2.45 million this election cycle through his campaign and affiliated political committee, The Right Path for Florida, with substantial support from interests in health care, real estate, technology and insurance.

The committee has received large contributions from corporations and political committees, including companies connected to tobacco, property insurance, health care, pharmaceuticals and the cannabis industry.

That fundraising network stands in contrast to Castillo's message that Tallahassee has become too responsive to corporations, developers and wealthy political donors and not responsive enough to the people who actually live and work in communities like District 118.

The Choice in House District 118

A.C. Castillo and Mike Redondo offer voters very different approaches to representation in Tallahassee.

Redondo is a lawyer, incumbent legislator and future Republican House Speaker who has amassed millions of dollars in campaign support, aligned himself with Trump's America First movement, voted to expand Florida's cooperation with ICE and supported legislation giving the state a larger role in immigration enforcement.

Castillo is a union worker, longtime District 118 resident and son of immigrants whose campaign centers on working families, public schools, affordability, property insurance and giving local neighborhoods a stronger voice.

He knows what rising housing costs, insurance premiums and everyday expenses mean because he and his family face many of the same pressures as the people he is asking to represent.

The Miami-Dade Democratic Party has endorsed A.C. Castillo for Florida House District 118 .