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July 6th Len’s Political Note #736 Jose Javier Rodriquez Florida Attorney General
2026 General Election
Jose Javier Rodriguez. (often called JJR)
These are early days to write about a state attorney general candidate. Nevertheless, it is timely to support a candidate running against Florida’s incumbent attorney general. James Uthmeir makes the Note timely. You will learn more about him later.
JJR has an admirable record, one that resembles a few successful politicians. He is from Florida, the state he would like to be attorney general of, the “people’s lawyer,” as he says. Though he was born in North Carolina, he grew up In Florida, where his father burnishes his son’s credentials. His father fled Fidel Castro controlled Cuba when he was 15 years old.
JJR fled Cuba based on the lie that created Operation Pedro Pan. Begun at the end of the Eisenhower administration, continued during first two years of the Kennedy administration, and led by the Catholic Welfare Bureau which spread a story that the Communist government was planning to place minors in indoctrination centers after terminating parental rights. There were no indoctrination centers. There were no plans for indoctrination centers. The United States assisted in the escape of 14,000 unaccompanied minors from Cuba to the United States – among them JJR’s father.
JJR’s Cuban Dad and Midwestern Mom moved with him to Miami where he grew up and graduated from Miami Palmetto High School. From there he went to Brown where he majored in International Relations. With a lot of options, he joined the Peace Corps, spending three years in Senegal. Returning from Africa, he went to Harvard Law School, graduating with a JD in 2006.
Back in Miami, Jose Javier Rodriguez worked for Florida Legal Service, Inc for five years, then joined a private practice in Coral Gables. The legal services experience led him to consider politics. Bad Florida laws, he explained, got in the way of helping people. In 2012, he ran for the state House of Representatives, defeating Alex de la Portilla of the powerful Dade County de la Portilla family. He was elected and reelected in 2014. In 2016, he ran for the Florida Senate, ousting Miguel Diaz de la Portilla (Alex’s brother).
The 2020 election was a different story. Complicated by an independent candidate also named Rodriquez, Jose Javier Rodriquez lost the general election to the Republican candidate by 32 votes. A former Republican legislator later claimed credit for recruiting and organizing dark money funding for the spoiler that defeated JJR.
During his tenure in state office, JJR was supported by teachers’ unions and public employee unions. He was known as a thoughtful member of the House and then the Senate with a principal concern for opposing corruption.
Having lost his state senate position, with a Democratic President in Washington, JJR could have remined in the private law practice where he was now a partner. Among his most frequent clients were labor unions. He chose another path when offered a position in the United States Labor Department – Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training. The first time he was considered for confirmation, he did not get a majority vote in the Senate. John Fetterman and Bob Menendez voted against along with all the Republicans. Fetterman commented that JJR was inexperienced. When JJR was later confirmed, Fetterman was still a no vote. As Assistant Secretary, JJR continued his close connections with labor unions.
Returned to Florida after the 2024 election, in June, 2026, JJR announced his run for Attorney General. “Our power company is planning the biggest rate hike in U.S. history. Our insurance goes up every year. Powerful interests get away with everything they want, looking out for themselves and making deals at our expense and at our children’s expense. And who do we have to stop them? Nobody. Because our attorney general, the guy who should be taking them to court, is too busy enriching himself and only looking out for himself.”
The Republican incumbent, James Uthmeier, was appointed Attorney General, after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis appointed Ashley Moody as US Senator. She had replaced Marco Rubio who had been named Secretary of State by President Donald Trump. Uthmeir had been Ron DeSantis’ chief of staff. On his own, he got himself in some trouble.He was threatened with contempt of court as a result of his telling Florida law enforcement officers they could ignore a federal court order barring enforcement of a newly enacted Florida immigration law.
Uthmeier chaired a political committee called Keep Florida Clean. Intended to oppose a constitutional amendment to legalize cannabis use, KFC (if I can call it that) somehow received $10 million of the $67 million the Hope Florida Foundation received as part of Medicaid overpayment settlement. If this was a part of Medicaid’s federal waste, fraud, and abuse, Elon Musk did not notice.
This is the timely part: President Trump just visited the site for an immigration detention center proposed by Uthmeier and Governor DeStanis. Set in the middle of the Everglades, Uthmeier named it Alligator Alcatraz. Presumably because it is in land held to be sacred by Native Americans and nearly sacred by the Friends of the Everglades, DeSantis insists it is a temporary facility. President Trump is not so sure. We’ll see what the public thinks in 2026 when James Uthmeier faces Jose Javier Rodriquez in the general election for Attorney General — if Uthmeier is not defeated in the Republican primary and if JJR defeats any opponents who show up for the Democratic primary,
Jose Javier Rodriguez is the likely nominee. DONATE. Help JJR build a campaign fund big enough so that he can be part of making Florida a little less Republican.
Another Attorney General Race coming up in November, 2025
Virginia
Jay Jones is the Democratic nominee for Attorney General. The grandson and son of civil rights leaders and attorneys in Virginia, he is making his mark as a politician – as a legislator who worked to protect abortion rights, expand Medicaid, and achieve raises for teachers; as an attorney general who would oppose Donald Trump. DONATE See Len’s Political Note #734.
The Other Democratic candidates for Statewide office in Virginia
Abigail Spanberger is the Democratic nominee for Governor. Born in New Jersey, she grew up in Virginia. After serving as a US postal inspector and a member of the CIA, she ran for Congress where she established herself as an effective moderate Democrat. She has already established herself as a leader, creating a team of candidates with the other two– prospective Attorney General Jay Jones and prospective Lt. Governor Ghazala Hashmi. DONATE to Abigail Spanberger. See Len’s Political Note #705
Ghazala Hashmi is the Democratic nominee for Lt Governor. Born in India, she came to Virginia with her parents. Her father was a graduate student and then a faculty member at Georgia Southern where she got her BA. She bebame an academic who focused on teaching and founded, for the Community College where she worked, a Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. Reacting to the newly elected President Trump, she ran for the State Senate and won. There, she chaired the education and health committee, worked closely with labor, and won a multi-candidate campaign in the Democratic primary for Lt. Governor. DONATE. See Len’s Political Note #735.
New Jersey will also elect a governor in November 2025. (The other positions are appointed by the Governor)
Mikie Sherrill was born in Virginia. She moved to New Jersey with her family. After high school she went to the Naval Academy and became a military helicopter pilot. She retired in 2004 and went to law school. Her distaste for the elected Donald Trump led her into politics. Her run for Congress in 2018 flipped a Republican seat. She, too, was a Democratic moderate and was also part of the group of new Members with military or national defense experience. DONATE Help Mikie Sherill win. Right now, this is seen as a closer race the Virginia’s. See Len’s Political Note #732
GIVE OF YOURSELF AS WELL.
Join peaceful demonstrations. I hope you found a place to march on June 14 and did something on Memorial Day to remember those who died in the wars. Be prepared to march on July 17. Look around. Many communities have weekly demonstrations against Trump. Find one and join. Call your Senators and Members of Congress. Remind them Trump and the Republicans have been working on huge tax cuts for the wealthy, sharp reductions in Medicaid for those who are not wealthy, and expanding our national debt in the process.
