Florida → House → District 112
The Florida House directory lists Alex Rizo (R) for the 2024–26 term and gives the county coverage as Part of Miami-Dade.
District map · 2022 House plan
¶ Geography and communities
Enacted under Florida’s 2022 decennial redistricting plan, Florida House District 112 shifted from its historic central coastal/Key Biscayne footprint to anchor the Hispanic municipal heartland and freight industrial centers of northwestern Miami-Dade County. It forms a compact urban, light-manufacturing, and suburban belt bounded by the Palmetto Expressway and the Lake Belt limestone quarries.
- Municipalities Included (Full or Partial):
- City of Hialeah (Western & Central Core): Primary population and cultural center of the district, hosting the incumbent's district office along West 12th Avenue. Florida House of Representatives
- City of Hialeah Gardens: Fast-growing residential and commercial municipality along Okeechobee Road.
- Town of Medley: Heavy industrial, trucking, and rail-logistics municipality in the Miami River basin.
- City of Doral (Northern Fringe Interface): Commercial warehousing and distribution centers buffering NW 74th Street.
- Census-Designated Places (CDPs) & Neighborhood Enclaves:
- Hialeah Acres & Seminola: Established single-family residential and light-industrial enclaves.
- Lakeview & Lago Grande: Dense residential lakefront condominium and townhouse developments in western Hialeah.
- Key Transportation & Industrial Corridors:
- State Road 826 (Palmetto Expressway): Premier north-south expressway carrying heavy commuter and freight traffic through the center of the district.
- State Road 25 (US Highway 27 / Okeechobee Road): Vital multi-lane freight highway connecting Miami to the Glades agricultural region and Lake Okeechobee.
- State Road 934 (East 25th Street / NW 74th Street): Crucial industrial trucking and freight corridor linking Medley logistics yards to airport distribution centers.
- Florida East Coast (FEC) Railway / Medley Freight Spur: Active heavy-rail industrial tracks servicing cement plants, warehouses, and freight consolidators.
- Miami Canal (C-6 Canal): Key regional drainage and commercial barge waterway discharging stormwater from western quarries into the Miami River.
¶ Population and electorate
(District-specific metrics based on enacted post-2020 reapportionment parameters; strictly excluding broader non-coterminous countywide totals.)
- Target Population: Standard reapportionment single-member baseline of ~179,754 residents post-2020 redistricting.
- Demographic Composition:
- Racial / Ethnic Composition: Performing Hispanic/Latino supermajority district (exceeding 85% of district residents, dominated by Cuban American families alongside significant Colombian, Venezuelan, and Nicaraguan diasporas), balanced by small non-Hispanic White and Afro-Caribbean populations.
- Linguistic Profile: High prevalence of bilingual Spanish-English and Spanish-dominant households across local commerce, civic gatherings, and municipal government.
- Household Structure: Predominantly working-class and middle-class multi-generational households, small-business proprietors, commercial truck drivers, and healthcare service workers residing in single-family residential neighborhoods, duplexes, and garden apartments.
- Socioeconomic Character:
- Freight logistics, concrete and building materials, metal fabrication, industrial warehousing, commercial retail, and education support economy.
- Constituent challenges: housing affordability, property insurance stabilization, auto insurance rates, access to workforce training pipelines, and urban infrastructure reinvestment.
- Hydrological and rock blasting factors: proximity to Lake Belt limestone quarries creates ongoing resident concern regarding blasting vibrations and foundation damage, while low elevations require constant maintenance of secondary canals and stormwater pump stations.
¶ Elections and political context
District 112 functions as a solid Republican stronghold in Miami-Dade County, characterized by high conservative turnout among Cuban American voters and small-business owners.
- Partisan Index: Solid Republican baseline performance (typically R+22 to R+30).
- Recent General Election History:
- 2024 General Election (November 5, 2024):
- Alex Rizo (R - Incumbent): 67.4% (38,912 votes)
- Jackie Gil-Abarzua (D): 32.6% (18,829 votes)
- Margin: +34.8% (20,083 votes) R hold
- 2022 General Election (November 8, 2022):
- Alex Rizo (R): 69.8% (26,140 votes)
- Nicholas Ramos (D): 30.2% (11,315 votes)
- Margin: +39.6% (14,825 votes) R hold
- Voter Resources & Official Information:
¶ Economic and civic anchors
- Heavy Industry, Concrete & Logistics Hubs:
- Town of Medley Industrial Basin: Premier regional industrial zoning cluster housing major cement and concrete batch plants (e.g., Titan America, CEMEX), metal recycling facilities, cold-storage warehouses, and freight dispatch depots.
- Okeechobee Road Commercial & Trucking Corridor: High-density commercial corridor catering to regional commercial transport, fleet maintenance, and building supply distributors.
- Public Education & Academic Leadership:
- High density of public K-12 schools within the Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) Northwest Feeder Pattern; Rizo spent over a decade as a high school teacher, athletic coach (Barbara Goleman Senior High School), and central district administrator. Wikipedia
- Educational consulting and testing advisory services (Rizo founded and operates an independent educational consulting firm). Wikipedia
- Healthcare Infrastructure:
- Specialized ambulatory surgical centers, community dialysis clinics, and regional physician practices operating along West 12th Avenue and West 49th Street.
- Hialeah Hospital (Adjacent Anchor): 370+ bed acute-care hospital providing 24/7 emergency medicine, robotic surgery, and specialized cardiology services.
- Commercial Retail & Automotive Logistics:
- West 49th Street Commercial Core (Hialeah): High-volume commercial retail corridor anchoring local property tax revenues, financial institutions, and automotive dealerships.
¶ People and organizations to map
- Local Governance & Civic Coalitions:
- Miami-Dade Community Council 5: Rizo served as Vice Chair from 2015 to 2020, establishing deep ties to county zoning boards, land-use attorneys, and municipal planners. Florida House of Representatives
- Hialeah Chamber of Commerce & Industries & Miami Lakes Chamber of Commerce: Active commercial networks where Rizo holds membership, representing industrial warehousing, manufacturing, and small businesses.
- Miami-Dade Republican Executive Committee (REC): Rizo previously served as Chairman of the Miami-Dade Republican Party, cementing relationships with statewide GOP leadership, donors, and grassroots precinct captains.
- Predecessor Alignment:
- Succeeded former House Speaker José R. Oliva in District 110 prior to redistricting, maintaining institutional ties to free-market healthcare and business coalitions established by House leadership.
- Research Leads (Speculative Network Connections):
- Research Lead: Major concrete and building materials corporations (such as Titan America, CEMEX, and the Florida Concrete & Products Association) operating in Medley likely maintain active policy consultation with Rizo regarding state transportation aggregate specifications, road construction contracts, and industrial permitting.
- Research Lead: Charter school management organizations (CMOs) and private school voucher advocates likely interface regularly with Rizo given his chairmanship of the Student Academic Success Subcommittee and his background in educational administration.
¶ Representation and legislative work
- Incumbent Member: Alejandro "Alex" Rizo Jr. Wikipedia
- Biographical Background: Born in New York City, New York; moved to Florida in 1968; resident of Hialeah; Roman Catholic; father of two sons.
- Academic Background: B.S. in Biological Sciences from Florida International University; M.S. in Educational Leadership and Administration from Nova Southeastern University. Wikipedia
- Professional Background: Educator, educational consultant, and small-business owner; former public school teacher and administrator in Miami-Dade County Public Schools; former sales representative for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Wikipedia
- Public Service History: State Representative (2020–present; District 110 from 2020–2022; District 112 from 2022–present); former Vice Chair, Miami-Dade Community Council 5 (2015–2020); former Chairman, Republican Party of Miami-Dade County.
- House Committee Assignments & Leadership (2024–2026 Term):
- Chair, Student Academic Success Subcommittee: Direct legislative gatekeeper over public school curriculum standards, student assessment frameworks, school grading systems, and student progression policies.
- Education & Employment Committee: Full standing committee directing Florida’s K-12 education, higher education, and workforce development policies.
- Ways & Means Committee: Evaluates all statewide tax policies, sales tax holidays, corporate tax relief, and property tax caps.
- Health Professions & Programs Subcommittee: Directs legislation governing healthcare provider licensing, scope of practice, and medical training pipelines.
- PreK-12 Budget Subcommittee: Recommends state budget allocations for public schools, early learning readiness, instructional materials, and teacher compensation.
- Signature Policy Priorities: Advancing educational choice, school voucher accountability, and student assessment reform; strengthening career and technical education (CTE) pipelines for industrial and trades work; protecting law enforcement and first responders; lowering residential property insurance and commercial business taxes; and securing state budget appropriations for stormwater drainage improvements, canal flood control, and road resurfacing in northwestern Miami-Dade County.
Research text: Gemini browser session, 2026-10-04. Officeholder and county coverage: Florida House directory. The graph keeps these leads separate from the reference office record.