Race Analysis: Florida House District 70

BRADENTON – In the Florida House District 70 race–which includes part of northern Manatee County–Democrat Eleuterio Salazar Jr. challenges incumbent Republican Representative Mike Beltran.

Beltran has represented District 57 since first being elected in 2018. As part of the redistricting that followed the 2020 census, Beltran found himself in a newly drawn district 70.

Beltran is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the Harvard School of Law. A practicing attorney, he serves on the Florida House Health Quality Subcommittee, Judiciary Committee, Justice Appropriations Subcommittee, and Local Administration Subcommittee.

Beltran has been a close political ally of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who previously appointed him to the Judicial Nominating Commission for Florida’s Thirteenth Circuit Court in Hillsborough County.

In the 2020 session, Beltran managed to get one sponsored bill passed, HB 5301, which established new county court and circuit court judges. He was unsuccessful in passing HB 951, which limited attorney contingency risk multiplier fees in property insurance litigation, a bill that prompted thousands of petitions from homeowners before dying in the Senate.

Salazar, a Bradenton native and Lakewood Ranch High grad who unsuccessfully ran for mayor in 2016, had intended to run for a seat on the Water Conservation District board. However, the Florida Legislature passed a disastrously-crafted bill that put dramatic restrictions on who could run for those seats, a bill Beltran voted in favor of.

Beltran's legislative work has focused mostly on courtroom and child safety issues. While he has not been as extreme as many RPOF legislators in terms of sponsored legislation and rhetoric, he has nevertheless largely voted lock-step with the party, even on controversial issues.

Salazar, who is openly gay, has served on the boards of Big Brothers Big Sisters, Youth Service America, Family Partnership Center, and America’s Foundation for Suicide Prevention. He has been a longtime political activist, particularly on LGBTQ and civil rights issues, where he has demonstrated a deep commitment to putting in the work to advance social change. That said, he faces an enormous challenge against a well-known incumbent who has outraised him in campaign funds by more than 1000 percent.