Carlos Lopez-Cantera (born December 29, 1973) is an American politician who served as the 19th lieutenant governor of Florida from 2014 to 2019.
A member of the Republican Party, Lopez-Cantera represented the 113th district in the Florida House of Representatives from 2004 to 2012; he served as Majority Leader[4] during the final two years of his term. Lopez-Cantera was elected property appraiser of Miami-Dade County on August 14, 2012.[5] On January 14, 2014, Gov. Rick Scott appointed Lopez-Cantera to the post of Lieutenant Governor of Florida. He served out the remainder of the unexpired term of Jennifer Carroll and was elected to a full term in November 2014.
In 1997, Lopez-Cantera was a facilitator for the Florida Senate's criminal justice committee.[10] In 2002, he made an unsuccessful bid for a seat in the Florida House of Representatives. Two years later, Lopez-Cantera won his first election to the Florida House of Representatives to the 113th District in November 2004, and was successively reelected in 2006, 2008 and in 2010 when he defeated US Navy veteran and rising democratic party star Alex Cruzet. He was House majority whip from 2008 to 2010 and the House Majority Leader from 2010 to 2012.[11]
Lopez-Cantera was twice elected by his colleagues from Miami-Dade County to be the chairman of the Miami-Dade Legislative Delegation from 2011-2012. On August 14, 2012, he became the second property appraiser to be elected by the citizens of Miami-Dade, a county with a population of more than 2.5 million people and almost 1,000,000 properties.[citation needed]
Lieutenant Governor of Florida
Governor Rick Scott announced Lopez-Cantera's appointment as Lieutenant Governor of Florida on January 14, 2014.[8] Lopez-Cantera was appointed to serve the remainder of the unexpired term of Lieutenant Gov. Jennifer Carroll,[12] who had resigned the post on March 12, 2013.[13][14] In November 2014, as Scott's running mate, Lopez-Cantera was elected to a full term as lieutenant governor.[15] He served in that role until 2019.[16]
On July 15, 2015, Lopez-Cantera announced his 2016 candidacy for United States Senate to replace retiring Senator Marco Rubio, who was running for president of the United States.[17] However, Lopez-Cantera withdrew from the race following Rubio's June 22, 2016 announcement that he would seek reelection to the Senate.[18] Lopez-Cantera declined to run for Governor of Florida in the 2018 election, instead supporting Adam Putnam in the Republican primary.[19]
Post-political career
After leaving office, Lopez-Cantera went into the private sector, and became the leader of Jax Industrial Three Ltd, a Coral Gables-based group. In 2024, the organization filed for a permit in north Jacksonville for a project estimated at $8.86 million to complete.[20]
Personal life
Lopez-Cantara's mother is Jewish while his father is Catholic. Lopez-Cantara — whose wife (since 2005), Renee, is also Jewish, as are his two daughters — celebrated his bar mitzvah in 2016 at the Western Wall.[21][22]
Electoral history
Florida State House of Representatives District 117 Republican Primary Election, 2002
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Republican
Julio Robaina
6,375
53.08
Republican
Carlos Lopez-Cantera
5,634
46.92
Florida State House of Representatives District 113 Republican Primary Election, 2004
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Republican
Carlos Lopez-Cantera
7,307
84.5
Republican
Eileen Damaso
1,345
15.5
Florida State House of Representatives District 113 Election, 2004
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Republican
Carlos Lopez-Cantera
24,358
100.0
Florida State House of Representatives District 113 Election, 2006
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Republican
Carlos Lopez-Cantera (inc.)
13,076
100.0
Write-in
Nicole Abrante
2
0.0
Florida State House of Representatives District 113 Election, 2008
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Republican
Carlos Lopez-Cantera (inc.)
20,726
58.2
Democratic
Javier Betancourt
14,868
41.8
Florida State House of Representatives District 113 Election, 2010
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