Garcia, Joe, 1963-

GARCIA, Joe, a Representative from Florida; born in Miami Beach, Miami-Dade County, Fla., October 19, 1963; graduated from Belen Jesuit Preparatory School, Miami, Fla., 1982; attended Miami Dade Community College; B.A., University of Miami, Coral Gables, Fla., 1987; J.D., University of Miami, Coral Gables, Fla., 1991; lawyer, private practice; nonprofit director; chairman of the Florida public service commission, 1991-2000; director of the Office of Minority Impact, United States Department of Energy, 2009-2010; was an unsuccessful candidate for election to the United States House of Representatives in 2008 and 2010; elected as a Democrat to the One Hundred Thirteenth Congress (January 3, 2013-January 3, 2015); unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the One Hundred Fourteenth Congress in 2014; unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the One Hundred Fifteenth Congress in 2016.

<p>Joe Garcia’s time on Capitol Hill was marked by two rarities: he was a Cuban American Democrat from Florida, and in an era marked by ideological rigidity he took a pragmatic approach toward the issue of immigration reform and his time in office. He was elected knowing the public’s skepticism about Congress. “Most folks look at Congress and see something that’s not working,” Garcia said. “They are not interested in our debates. They just want to get the economy going, they want to make sure their kids have a better future than they did, and they want to make sure they get the benefit of having someone advocating for them to work forward.”</p>

<p>Jose Antonio “Joe” Garcia, Jr., was born on October 19, 1963, to Cuban immigrants, in Miami Beach, Florida. Both his father, Jose Antonio, and his mother, Carmen, fled Castro-ruled Cuba to the United States. They met and married in Florida. A car washer when he first arrived in the U.S., Garcia’s father eventually worked in a bank, and his mother became a hair stylist. Garcia was the first of their three children. A 1982 graduate from Miami’s Belen Jesuit Preparatory School, he attended Miami Dade Community College before going on to the University of Miami in Coral Gables where he earned his B.A. in 1987. Trained as a lawyer, Garcia earned a J.D. from the University of Miami, Coral Gables, in 1991. He married Aileen Ugalde, an attorney, in 1992, and they have a daughter, Gabriela. The marriage ended in divorce in 2012.</p>

<p>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. Garcia then became involved in two nonprofit organizations: the Cuban American National Foundation as executive director from 2000 to 2004 and the New Democrat Network as executive vice president for Hispanic outreach (2004–2008). He also served as chairman of the Miami-Dade County Democratic Party in 2007.</p>

<p>José Antonio Garcia Jr. (born October 12, 1963), known as Joe Garcia, is an American attorney and politician who served as the 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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>Garcia served on the Florida Public Service Commission as chairman. While on the FPSC, he chaired the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners and was second vice chair of the Southeastern Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. Garcia was later appointed to the Federal Communications Commission Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service and was a member of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials.</p>