This is an accepted version of this page Mario Rafael Díaz-Balart y Caballero (/bəˈlɑːrt/ bə-LART; born September 25, 1961) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Florida's 26th congressional district.

After Representative Alcee Hastings's death in April 2021, Díaz-Balart became the dean (or longest-serving member) of Florida's congressional delegation.

He studied political science at the University of South Florida before beginning his public service career as an aide to then-Miami Mayor Xavier Suárez in 1985.

In 2008, Díaz-Balart faced his strongest challenge to date in Joe García, former executive director of the Cuban American National Foundation and former chairman of the Miami-Dade County Democratic Party.

On February 11, 2010, Díaz-Balart announced his intention to seek election in Florida's 21st congressional district—being vacated by his brother, Lincoln Díaz-Balart—rather than the 25th district.

[18] In February 2021, Díaz-Balart changed his position on the legislation, voting against it during the 117th Congress on the basis that it did not protect individuals or organizations who oppose LGBTQ rights.

[20] The bill would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity, and protect the free exercise of religion.

In 2015, Díaz-Balart was one of 60 Republicans voting to uphold President Barack Obama's 2014 executive order banning federal contractors from making hiring decisions that discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

You can make movies, documentaries, get a lot of research money — and that's okay, I love capitalism...My fear is using the bandwagon of global warming to have Congress act on some knee-jerk reaction which will please some editorialists, will hurt our economy, will not do anything to help us in the future.

[31][32][33] In December 2020, Díaz-Balart was one of 126 Republican members of the House of Representatives to sign an amicus brief in support of Texas v. Pennsylvania, a lawsuit filed at the United States Supreme Court contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election, in which Joe Biden defeated Trump.

[34] The Supreme Court declined to hear the case on the basis that Texas lacked standing under Article III of the Constitution to challenge the results of an election held by another state.

[42] On September 29, 2008, Díaz-Balart voted against the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, which was intended to purchase distressed assets and supply cash directly to banks during the global financial crisis of 2008.

[45] The Center for American Progress, a center-left think-tank, estimated that 41,000 of his constituents would lose their health insurance as a result of the bill's passing.

"[51] In an April 2015 essay for Time magazine, Díaz-Balart wrote that President Obama "continues to appease brutal dictatorships while gaining precious little in return.

Díaz-Balart noted that "all eight Cuban-American senators and congressmen from both sides of the aisle strongly disagree" with Obama's policy on Cuba, whose people "want to gather peacefully, speak their minds, practice their faiths, access the Internet, and enjoy the fruits of their labor.

"[53] In a March 2017 memo to the Trump White House, Díaz-Balart argued that if the Cuban government did not conform to the Helms-Burton law within 90 days, the U.S. should revert to its pre-Obama policy on Cuba.

[54] On January 19, 2023, Diaz-Balart said he supported sanctioning and revoking the visas of members of the Honduran government if the legislative body voted to remove Honduras from CAFTA.

[55] In 2014, The Washington Post reported that Díaz-Balart was "eagerly seeking a deal" on undocumented immigrants "that can somehow please enough Republicans and Democrats to advance.

"[57] He took part in a January 2018 White House meeting about DACA, and said that nothing would "divert my focus to stop the deportation of these innocent people whose futures are at stake.

[64] While recovering from the effects of the disease, though still drained from the experience, Diaz-Balart said he would offer his blood plasma, with antibodies against the virus, for experimental treatment or research purposes.