Joe Garcia and Rep. David Rivera

Of course, his Cuban heritage and experience representing the Miami area in the Florida Legislature doesn’t hurt, either.

Trouble is, even as an incumbent, Rivera has his hands full. The national Democratic Party has targeted CD25 as one of the few Republican seats Democrats can pick up this year. And Joe Garcia, Rivera's opponent, is election-campaign savvy, well-connected and has plenty of friends in the district.

Rivera was born in New York after his family left Cuba in the wake of Fidel Castro’s Communist revolution in 1959. In 1974, his family moved to Miami, where Rivera quickly became a young conservative. He volunteered for Ronald Reagan’s presidential campaign in 1980 and for his re-election in 1984 as a College Republican while getting a degree in political science at Florida International University.

He later got the opportunity to work in the U.S. Capitol as an aide to former Sen. Connie Mack III. Rivera believes this experience will help him transition from the Florida Legislature to the U.S. Congress.

“It was an honor to work with Sen. Mack, such a distinguished legislator, in the U.S. Congress. I got the opportunity to see the legislative process in Congress firsthand working for Sen. Mack --  experience I hope will help serve me well as the next congressman from Southern Florida,” Rivera said.

After being elected to the 112th Florida House District in 2002, he became chairman of the House Full Appropriations Committee. Rivera counts the passage of balanced budgets (a requirement of Florida’s Constitution), especially during the state’s economic crisis in the last two years, as some of his major legislative achievements.

“We had to make difficult decisions on how to fund Florida’s most important programs, like education and health care, while still living within the state budget means,” Rivera said.

Joe Garcia, meanwhile, has reason to believe he's a winner. He came close to defeating incumbent Mario Diaz-Balart in 2008. Diaz-Balart is running for the 21st District seat, considered safer for Republicans, to replace his brother Lincoln Diaz-Balart, who is retiring.

Both Rivera and Garcia won their respective primaries easily, and feel they have momentum heading into the general election.

“The strength of Joe Garcia as a candidate has led most observers to believe he will likely win in November,” said Ariel Milian, Garcia’s campaign spokesperson.

Garcia's campaign said last week that he was unavailable to comment on this story.