Is Carlos Lopez-Cantera Ready to Run?

July 8, 2015August 19, 2015 Mary Anna Mancuso Carlos Lopez-Cantera, Rubio, US Senate

Should he stay or should he go? That is the question for Lieutenant Governor Carlos Lopez-Cantera. In one week’s time Lopez-Cantera is set to formally announce his candidacy for U.S. Senate. Currently, the U.S. Senate race is a wide open field for Republicans and while there is speculation of Congressman Jeff Miller preparing to jump in, there have not been any comments confirming or denying this from the Miller camp.

As Lopez-Cantera mulls over a Senate bid, speculation swirls on whether he should resign his post once he is a full-fledge Senate candidate. In a 1970 Supreme Court decision, the Court said it was wrong for any official “to use the prestige and power of that office in seeking election to a higher or different office.” However, in 2007, the decision was amended by the state Legislature and then-Governor Crist to exempt candidates for federal office. In other words, the resign-to-run provision does not apply to Lopez-Cantera.

There are pros and cons to staying on as Lieutenant Governor. First is Lopez-Cantera would maintain his statewide elected position which would give him a better chance at increasing his name recognition across the state. On the flip side, Lopez-Cantera would likely have to defend Governor Scott’s decisions whether he agreed with them or not, including a recent rash of budget vetoes that disproportionately hit his home county of Miami-Dade. Fellow Republicans see the latter as a potential achilles heel to Lopez-Cantera’s Senate campaign if he decides to remain in office while on the trail.

According to former Representative Juan-Carlos Planas of Miami, “You have all of the baggage, but it’s very hard to take credit for the accomplishments.”

In recent history, four of the ten previous Lieutenant Governors have tried and failed at using the office as a stepping stone to higher office. However, Lopez-Cantera has potential to break the streak as long as he wins the primary. In order to win he’ll have to make sure he becomes a household name while dodging mud being slung from the left. A sure fire way to increase name id and stay on the offense will be by using social media and leveraging technology in his Senate campaign. As one year removed from being classified as a young Republican, Lopez-Cantera is regularly seen taking selfies with people as well as on stage before addressing large crowds, such as, the 2015 graduating class of Flagler College back in May.

As Florida’s first Hispanic Lieutenant Governor, Lopez-Cantera brings a fresh face to the U.S. Senate race for Republicans who wondered what they were going to do after Atwater bowed out of the race back in April. From selfies to using Periscope on the 4th of July, Lopez-Cantera is already making headway to embracing the new landscape of campaigning in a technology driven world.

While Lopez-Cantera will face hurdles concerning his ties to the Scott administration, as long as he keeps his selfie game on fleek and his talking points crisp he’ll do well in the runoff for Rubio’s seat come next November.