One of the first people I came to know in politics is Miami-Dade GOP State Committeewoman Liliana Ros.  Though I first met her during the Dole campaign in 1996, she did not become someone I came to know well until a few years later when I became more active in the local Republican Party down in my home county of Miami-Dade.

Besides longtime chairman and movement conservative activist Mary Ellen Miller, Liliana Ros–often referred to as the “Godmother of the Miami-Dade GOP”–has always been the go-to person for anything related with the local GOP in Miami-Dade. If an up-and-coming solid, conservative candidate didn’t enjoy the connections to, or financial support of bigwig establishment types, Liliana Ros would offer to help the candidate by throwing him a fundraiser or introducing him to the right people.

In fact, it was Liliana Ros who first introduced a young Republican activist and volunteer to the mayor of West Miami when he wanted to run for that small town’s council.  That introduction eventually earned him that mayor’s support, which helped him win that first race. That young councilman then ran for and won a seat in the State House, and in his last year as a legislator went on to serve as Florida’s first Hispanic Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives.  This story can be verified in Senator Marco Rubio’s recently-released memoir, “An American Son.” Continue reading →