Former Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Mary Barzee Flores Wednesday announced her candidacy for Congress to replace longtime U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, whose attorney-husband Dexter Lehtinen is an ex-Miami U.S. Attorney.
Flores is in private practice as a shareholder in the litigation department at Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler Alhadeff & Sitterson.
Former President Barack Obama nominated her for Judge Robin S. Rosenbaum's former seat on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, but Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio blocked her nomination.
Rubio initially backed the nomination, according to Flores, but later withdrew his support, citing the judge's past connection to the nonprofit American Civil Liberties Union and EMILY's List, an advocacy group endorsing pro-choice, female Democratic candidates.
"Petty partisan politics prevented me like Judge Merrick Garland and so many other Obama federal court nominees from fulfilling President Obama's call to public service," Flores said in a statement announcing her candidacy. "But I'm persistent and I don't give up easily. I remain committed to serving this community and this country."
Rubio did not respond to requests for comment by deadline.
Flores was born in Miami and will run as a Democrat for Florida's 27th district, which includes West Miami, Coral Gables, Key Biscayne, Cutler Bay, Miami Beach, Pinecrest, North Bay Village, South Miami, Pinecrest, Palmetto Bay and part of Miami.
Flores is a high-powered litigator focused on complex civil disputes, arbitration, white-collar criminal defense and internal investigations. She serves as special master, private judge, arbitrator and court-appointed receiver, according to her Stearns Weaver profile. But her early jobs, including a stint as a teenage dishwasher after her father's death, were far more humble. She would eventually become a noted assistant federal public defender, supervising a team of trial lawyers, and later rose to the Miami-Dade Circuit bench after running unopposed in 2003.
"I'm running for Congress because I believe our politics and our politicians have gotten too small and the challenges we face are too big," Flores said. "I refuse to sit back and watch as tens of millions of Americans lose their health care, our public schools fall into ruin, our environment is ravaged, our heroes are neglected and disrespected, and our children's futures are squandered away by stupidity and greed."