Say hello to Daisy Baez, a Democrat running in the 2017 Florida State Senate SD40 special election

| 11:59 pm EDT May 6, 2017
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The sudden resignation of Florida State Senator Frank Artiles, just a few months after he took office, has set the stage for a surprise special election in the Miami-area district known as SD40. The date for that election still has yet to be set in stone, and there are rumors about who might or not might run. But one Democrat is officially throwing her hat in the ring, and she’s already proven that she’s viable in the region.

Say hello to Daisy Baez. She’s a State Representative who’s now running for the vacated State Senator seat. Her platform is straightforward: “I’m running for State Senate to increase funding for our public schools, to create good-paying jobs for every Floridian, provide access to affordable healthcare and to help solve traffic congestion by rebuilding our infrastructure.” Baez is a U.S. Army veteran, and she’s lived in the SD40 District city of Coral Gables for the past fifteen years.

So who else is running in the SD40 special election? The only Republican candidate confirmed thus far by the Miami Herald newspaper is Lorenzo Palomares-Starbuck, even as a number of other Republicans and Democrats have said they’re still weighing their options. It’s rare that a State Senate race would garner national attention, even in a special election. But with the rising nationwide anti-Donald Trump sentiment having made Democrats surprisingly competitive in recent special elections that are too red to normally be competitive, all eyes are now on every special election to see how that trend plays out.

The SD40 special election is in regularly competitive territory for the Democratic Party in South Florida. We’ll see how many more candidates on either side might end up entering the race. But for now, get to know Democratic candidate Daisy Baez. Her official website is here. Her Facebook page is link. Her Twitter page is link.