Joe Garcia

García ran for re-election to the U.S. House in 2014. He faced Republican nominee Carlos Curbelo in the general election on November 4, 2014. According to a Washington Post article in December 2012, Garcia was one of the 10 most vulnerable incumbents in 2014. He was a member of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's Frontline Program, designed to help protect vulnerable Democratic incumbents heading into the 2014 election. Nonetheless, Garcia lost to the Republican nominee Carlos Curbelo.

In January 2014, Garcia proposed legislation that would halt flood insurance rate hikes for five years. His efforts stem from previous legislation that once in place would hit 268,000 Floridians with rate increases of between 20 and 400 percent. The Miami Herald reported that the bill would apply to all "property owners covered by the National Florida Insurance Program, and provides the greatest relief to those hardest hit—including an estimated 47,000 in Miami-Dade County."

Garcia won the rematch, defeating Rivera 54%–43%. He was the first Cuban-American Democrat to represent Florida in Congress.

In May 2013, Garcia's chief-of-staff and top political strategist went to jail after being implicated in a sophisticated scheme to manipulate the previous year’s primary elections by submitting hundreds of fraudulent absentee-ballot requests.

Garcia was sworn into his first two-year term on January 3, 2013. Despite the urging of several political and media organizations as well as prominent leaders, Garcia refused to disclose any of his stances for the 2012 Political Courage Test.

On September 9, 2013, the Miami Herald reported the funding of a shill candidate during Garcia's 2010 campaign. His campaign reportedly secretly funded Jose 'Roly' Arrojo, as a third party Republican primary candidate, in an effort to siphon votes from the other Republican candidate, David Rivera. Arrojo had spent thousands of dollars on mailers and a $10,440 qualifying fee without having ever filed the necessary paperwork with the Federal Election Commission. Vendors employed in the Arrojo campaign told the Miami Herald that Garcia had funded Arrojo's campaign and that they were cooperating with federal authorities in the investigation. He was sentenced to two years probation with eight months of home confinement and a $1,000 fine.

In 2012, Garcia announced he would seek a rematch against Rivera in what was now the 26th district. The district had been pushed well to the east and south, losing its share of Collier County and picking up all of Monroe County, including the Keys. The race was widely expected to be much closer than in previous cycles. Not only was it more evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans than its predecessor, but Rivera's campaign was hobbled by numerous scandals. In addition to several state probes, Rivera was the target of a federal investigation into allegations he tried to sabotage the Democratic primary in the 26th by secretly funding an unknown candidate, Justin Lamar Sternad, in hopes of avoiding a rematch against García. Several vendors whom Sternad employed in his campaign told the Miami Herald that Rivera had funded Sternad's campaign. Sternad himself subsequently told the FBI that Rivera had funded his campaign. Sternad's campaign manager, Ana Alliegro, was a close friend of Rivera. According to Sternad she served as the go-between.

In February 2013, the Miami Herald began reporting about "high-tech" hackers who had managed to make fraudulent ballot requests for the August 2012 primary election. On July 7, 2012, the first of more than 2,500 absentee ballot requests began streaming in from voters who had not requested a ballot. The Miami Herald investigation into hundreds of fraudulent ballot requests prompted Prosecutors to reopen the case. It was discovered that the fake ballot requests originated from masked Internet Protocol addresses in Miami. The investigation would conclude that Congressman Garcia’s staff had been behind the hundreds of fraudulent absentee-ballot requests.

In April 2010, Garcia announced his candidacy for the 25th district again, after U.S. Congressman Mario Díaz-Balart announced he would run for reelection in the 21st District being vacated by his brother, Lincoln Díaz-Balart. In his campaign announcement, Garcia stated he would focus on job creation, funding education and health care as his top priorities. Garcia defeated Luis Meurice in the Democratic primary, 76%-24%.

Garcia opposes repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act.

Of the three staff members involved, Jefferey Garcia (no relation), had served as campaign manager to the Congressman during his 2010 bid for the District 26 seat, and later as his Chief of Staff. Jefferey Garcia pled guilty, and was sentenced to 90 days in jail for orchestrating the fraudulent ballot scheme.

Garcia served on the board of the Spanish American League Against Discrimination (SALAD) and on the board of directors of Regis House, a drug addiction treatment and prevention center for inner-city youth in Miami. He is a member of the board of directors of the Cuban American National Foundation, and a past president. He has served as director of the New Democrat Network Hispanic Strategy Center, and chairman of the Democratic Party of Miami-Dade County. In 2009, Garcia joined the Obama administration in a Senate-confirmed position as director of the Office of Minority Economic Impact for the Department of Energy. During his tenure at the Energy Department, Garcia was appointed by President Obama to the Task Force on Puerto Rico's Status.

Garcia announced on February 7, 2008, his candidacy for the U.S. Congress in Florida's 25th congressional district . Garcia's campaign raised over $1.8 million but incumbent Republican U.S. Congressman Mario Díaz-Balart defeated Garcia 53%-47%. This 6% lost is easily the closest that a Democrat has come to defeating one of the Díaz-Balart brothers in a Congressional election.

José Antonio Garcia, Jr. was born in Miami Beach, Florida to José Garcia, Sr. and his wife, Carmen. His parents fled Cuba after the Cuban Revolution occurred and Fidel Castro's Communist regime took power. Garcia graduated in 1982 from Belen Jesuit Preparatory School, where he participated in the Close Up Washington civic education program. Garcia attended Miami-Dade Community College before earning his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and public affairs from the University of Miami in 1987. While at university, Garcia was elected president of the student government. He earned his J.D. from the University of Miami School of Law in 1991.

José Antonio Garcia Jr. (born October 12, 1963), known as Joe Garcia, is the former U.S Representative for Florida's 26th congressional district ; he was defeated in his 2014 bid for re-election and left office on January 3, 2015. The district includes most of western Miami-Dade County, as well as the Florida Keys. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He is the former executive director of the Cuban American National Foundation and was nominated by President Barack Obama to be director of the Office of Minority Economic Impact and Diversity of the United States Department of Energy, a position for which he was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate.