Senator Ileana Garcia Contact information

Ileana Ydolia Garcia is a Republican politician from Florida, who serves as a member of the Florida Senate. She was born in Miami, Florida, and is the daughter of Cuban exiles. Garcia grew up in Florida and was educated in Miami-Dade public schools where she excelled and graduated early.

Her career was in media, working in both television and radio. It was at 610 WIOD, where Garcia fell in love with broadcast mediums like radio and television. She took on two and sometimes three jobs at a time being on air both day and night and doing voice over work on the side. She worked her way up through many different jobs finally becoming one of the best program directors in the Miami market.

At the age of 27, Garcia had her son and became a single mom. Still having to work, Garcia’s mother and grandmother helped her with the new baby. It wasn’t easy but the family made ends-meet. Eventually, Garcia made the move to television. She worked as a reporter, did special segments and even hosted a TV show.

Most recently, Garcia was the first Hispanic female Deputy Press Secretary at the Department of Homeland Security. She now cares for her elderly parents and grandparents and extended family in South Miami. Garcia is the American Dream personified. She proves hard work and determination will always lead to success.

In her political career, she served as the first Hispanic female Deputy Press Secretary at the Department of Homeland Security under President Donald Trump. Garcia founded the group Latinas for Trump and in 2016 was the Trump campaign’s communications Director for Latino outreach.

In March 2022 during debate for the Parental Rights in Education bill in the Florida Senate, Ileana Garcia claimed that “gay is not a permanent thing, LGBT is not a permanent thing.” In January 2024, Garcia proposed a bill that would require Florida taxpayers to provide up to $5 million to Donald Trump in response to the former president’s legal fees. Garcia later stated that she would withdraw the bill after Florida governor Ron DeSantis expressed opposition and threatened to veto the bill.

In June 2020, Garcia filed to run against incumbent Democrat José Javier Rodríguez in Florida’s 37th State Senate District. On the first count, Garcia beat Rodríguez by a narrow margin of 31 votes; the lead increased to 34 after a recount. Garcia’s election then came under immediate scrutiny by local news outlets for the candidacy of independent candidate Alex Rodríguez, who shares the same last name as José Javier Rodríguez and is an acquaintance of former Republican State Senator Frank Artiles. Alex Rodríguez did not campaign but received 6,382 votes from voters who may have been confused about who they were voting for. It was widely acknowledged that his candidacy was decisive in the outcome of the election. On March 17, 2021, Artiles was accused of having paid $44,708.03 to Alex Rodríguez before and after the election in order for him to run as a false candidate in order to siphon off votes from candidate José Javier Rodríguez. His house at Palmetto Bay was searched, and he surrendered the next day to the Miami-Dade County Jail.