Business owner Jorge Martinez has announced he will challenge U.S. Rep. Darren Soto, four years after first considering a run against him. This time, he is running in a district that now leans Republican.
On Monday, the Pine Hills Republican said he had filed to run in Florida’s newly redrawn 9th Congressional District. He shared his story of fleeing Cuba as a child and building a life in the Orlando area.
“My family fled communism and came to Central Florida with nothing but hope, and this community gave us the chance to build our piece of the American Dream,” Martinez said. “I’m not running for Congress to enjoy a title. I’m running out of gratitude — so all families have the same shot at the American Dream that this country gave mine.”
Martinez left Cuba at age 8 with his parents and two younger siblings in 1973. The family settled in Orlando, where he graduated from West Orange High School and later earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Central Florida. In 1992, he started Martinez & Associates CPAs.
He has also shared his expertise with several local nonprofit organizations, such as the Central Florida Foundation, the finance committee at St. James Catholic Church, the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission, and Give Kids the World.
Martinez compared his years of managing finances to Congress’s spending during Soto’s five terms in the U.S. House.
“Darren Soto has spent nearly a decade in Washington voting for trillions in spending that drove up the cost of everything — and against the funding it takes to secure our border,” Martinez said.
“Central Florida families are paying more and getting less. This District voted for President Trump and the America First agenda, and it deserves a congressman who will help finish the job — not stand in the way.”
In 2022, Martinez announced he would run against Soto after the redistricting process, but he did not stay in the race for the Republican Primary that year. Now, with a new map approved by Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida’s 9th Congressional District leans more Republican, giving Martinez more reason to run.
With the new district boundaries, over 59% of voters supported Republican Donald Trump for President in 2024, while less than 41% backed Democrat Kamala Harris. Previously, more than 51% of voters in the old district supported Harris, and Soto last won re-election there with about 55% of the vote.
