Garcia, Joe, 1963-

José Antonio Garcia Jr. (born October 12, 1963), known as Joe Garcia, is an American attorney and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the U.S Representative for Florida's 26th congressional district from 2013 to 2015.

Born in Miami Beach, Florida, he graduated from Belen Jesuit Preparatory School before attending Miami-Dade Community College and earning B.A. and J.D. degrees from the University of Miami. Garcia, a lawyer in private practice, soon made the leap into local politics. In 1994 Florida Governor Lawton Chiles appointed him to the Florida public service commission, the agency that regulates power and water utilities. Garcia became its chairman in 1999 and 2000. His first campaign for political office was in 2008 when he unsuccessfully challenged incumbent U.S. Representative Mario Diaz-Balart. The next year, Garcia joined President Barack Obama’s administration as director of the Office of Minority Impact in the U.S. Energy Department. Garcia left in 2010 to run for an open House seat from Miami, losing to Republican David Rivera by 13,000 votes. Two years later, with Rivera mired in criminal and ethics investigations, Garcia challenged Rivera once more, soundly defeating the incumbent.

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