Now it's 18, that is 18 House Republicans to retire at the end of this session. For those keeping score, there are 12 Dem retirements, so far. Hotline reports:
Diaz-Balart is the 18th House GOPer to step down, and one of the few who holds a seat that Dems could target. In '08, he defeated Dem Raul Martinez by 16 pointes, even though the DCCC spent money in his Miami-Dade and Broward Co. district.
The district is heavily Hispanic, thanks to Miami's large Cuban population. 73% of district residents call themselves Hispanic, while just 16% are white. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) won a narrow 51%-49% victory in the seat.
First elected in '92, Diaz-Balart has had little trouble holding on to his seat. His brother, Mario, represents another heavily-Cuban part of Miami. CongressDaily reports that Mario Diaz-Balart will abandon his district to run in Lincoln's, which is seen as tilting more toward the GOP.
James L at Swing State has more on the Diaz-Balart congressional seat musical-chairs.
Unlike Al Gore and John Kerry, Obama performed well in both the 21st and the 25th, picking up 49% in both districts. The 21st CD has been the stronger of the two districts historically for Republicans, and I'd expect that Mario's candidacy would be a formidable stopgap for the GOP there. But if Mario does indeed make this move, his open seat in the 25th CD, where he only won 53% in 2008, could yield an interesting race to watch if Democrats can find a solid challenger.
You might remember FL-25 from 2008, when Orange to Blue (and DCCC Red to Blue) candidate Joe Garcia put enough of a scare into Mario Diaz-Balart to make the switch attractive to him. You'll definitely be hearing more on this one as Dem candidates emerge.