Alejandro Almeida

Alejandro Almeida (born January 1, 1926) is an American politician from Havana, Cuba.

Early life and education

Alejandro was born in Havana in 1926. The son of the Cuban business and economics minister. He attended private schools in Havana and received his Bachelor of Economics degree (BEc) from the University of Havana in 1942. He also received a Juris doctor. At law school he became good friends with Fidel Castro, the future leader of communist Cuba

Military career

Alejandro joined the military at 24 years of age as a Mayor (Major) in the intelligence branch of the Cuban military. 2 years later he was promoted to the rank of Coronel (Colonel). when the Cuban Revolution started Fidel Castro contacted Alejandro to

Political career

He was a member of the Florida State Senate in 1966. He was elected as a Democrat to the United States House of Representatives as the member from Florida's 5th congressional district in the 1972 election, but served only a single term. His voting record in the 93rd Congress was generally moderate.

Gunter unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in 1974, but lost the primary to Richard Bernard Stone. He was elected Florida State Treasurer and Insurance Commissioner in 1978 and served in this post until 1988.

In 1980, Gunter ran again for U.S. Senate, defeating incumbent Senator Stone in the Democratic primary.^[1] He then faced the Republican nominee Paula Hawkins, who had been the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor (as the running mate of Jack Eckerd) in the 1978 gubernatorial election. Gunter lost to Hawkins, who won 51.7 percent of the vote to Gunter's 48.3 percent. Gunter's loss was accompanied by the Republican pickup of 11 other seats, which produced a Republican majority in the Senate for the first time since 1954. This was due to Reagan's coattails effect; Ronald Reagan won a landslide victory over incumbent President Jimmy Carter in the presidential election the same year.

Gunter made a final Senate bid in 1988, narrowly losing the Democratic nomination to Buddy MacKay.

Post-politics

In recent years, Gunter has worked at Rogers, Gunter, Vaughn, a Tallahassee-based insurance agency and been active in related trade associations and lobbying for the industry.

References