Diaz-Balart wins re-election in Florida after vote-by-vote dispute

Mario Diaz-Balart won re-election in Florida's 26th District, after a very close race with Democrat Nicole Locklin. The Associated Press and several U.S. networks projected the Republican's victory on November 9, almost a week after the midterm elections. The results released by the state Elections Division, still identified as unofficial, assign him 114,578 votes, compared to 112,874 for Locklin. The difference between the two was 1,704 votes.

The result will allow Díaz-Balart to hold a seat in the House of Representatives for a new term, which will begin in January 2027. First elected in 2002, the legislator has remained in Congress since 2003 and is preparing to begin his thirteenth consecutive term. In the legislature that is ending, he served as vice chair of the Appropriations Committee and headed the subcommittee dedicated to funds for national security, the State Department and associated programs.

Locklin did not accept the result and asked for explanations about the count. On election night, some platforms temporarily showed her ahead, before modifying the figures. The Associated Press attributed that variation to a data entry error that she later corrected. Diaz-Balart also disputed the initial reports and maintained that a figure close to 3,000 votes had been mistakenly added to her rival, without appearing in the official records of the counties or the state.

Election supervisors in Miami-Dade and Broward reported that they were still reviewing some ballots. They indicated, however, that the pending votes would not be enough to change who was leading the race or to reach the margin that would trigger an automatic recount. The difference between the candidates exceeds the half-percentage-point threshold provided in Florida for that procedure. Official certification was still pending, so the media projection does not equate to the final formalization of the result.

The race was more competitive than the 2024 race, when Diaz-Balart obtained about 71 percent. Before these elections, the district's boundaries were modified: it stopped including Collier County and added sectors of southwest Broward. The district includes areas of northwest Miami-Dade and southwest Broward, including communities near Hialeah, Miami Lakes and Doral. The territorial changes altered the balance of a race that usually favored the Republican.

During the campaign, Locklin focused on the cost of living and immigration, while Diaz-Balart defended his legislative experience, reducing federal spending and funding for infrastructure and local projects. The Republican has also been an active figure in debates on Cuba and Latin America, and holds positions linked to budget appropriations and national security. In the midterm elections, Republicans retained the seat of District 26, although with a much smaller margin than in the previous election.