This story is part of a statewide partnership of more than 30 nonpartisan newsrooms and universities working to help Florida voters make informed decisions in the 2026 elections. Learn more about the Florida Elections Reporting Partnership at floridaelections.org.

With half of the 40 seats in the Florida Senate up for grabs on Election Day, a hotly contested race in District 38 is one that pollsters predict will go down to the wire – and could end in Miami sending a new senator to Tallahassee.

This race features incumbent Sen. Alexis Calatayud, a 33-year-old Republican who just served her first term in office, being challenged by Richard Lamondin, a 39-year-old father and CEO of ecofi, a sustainability company which focuses on reducing energy and water usage in buildings around the country.

District 38 includes some of Miami’s most prominent municipalities, including Coral Gables, Key Biscayne, South Miami, Pinecrest, Palmetto Bay and Cutler Bay. Calatayud was voted into office in 2022 after defeating her challenger, Janelle Perez, with over 54% of the votes in the district.  

While in Tallahassee, she became the chair of the Education Postsecondary committee, where she proposed a number of bills regarding school safety.

However, the bill that has sparked the most debate in the communities of District 38 is Senate Bill 102, also known as the Live Local Act, which was written and co-sponsored by Calatayud.

“Today is a new day for workforce housing in the free state of Florida,” Calatayud said when the bill was signed into law in 2023.  “Our Live Local Act is going to help bridge the gap in a meaningful way with market-driven, short and long-term solutions that improve options for both homeownership and affordable rental units in communities across our state.” 

The Live Local Act is supposed to serve as a way for families to afford local housing by allowing the construction of apartment buildings in local neighborhoods. But some critics say the  bill has introduced overdevelopment in the area with not many regulations in place. 

Indeed, Lamondin has used Calatayud’s sponsorship of the bill as one of the main talking points in his campaign. 

“A lot of people are upset that my opponent’s Live Local Act has taken away their say on what gets built in their neighborhood,” Lamondin told CommunityWire in an interview.

Supporters of the act say it’s a way to get more reasonably priced housing built in a city with a well-known affordability crisis. Critics say it gives too much power to developers, allowing them to avoid local zoning rules and disregard public opinion on what can be constructed in the community.  

The bill has seen a number of changes since it was first introduced in 2023.  

This July, Live Local 4.0 went into effect. The updated bill – also known as CS/CS/HB 1389: Affordable Housing – updated the original by allowing residential development in schools, religious and business properties and restricting local governments on having a say on the dimensions of the building.

The passage of this bill has given the opportunity to developers to expand in local communities. There have already been two proposals for high-rise apartments in Coconut Grove, with one of them being 25 stories high. 

“It’s not my job to be an evangelist or apologist for any of these projects,” Calatayud said at a community meeting in August, when residents raised complaints. “This is county-owned land. The best thing about that project is your voice is very much a part that matters to the equation. This is not a random private developer. This is the county developing the county’s land, in partnership with a private developer.” 

Calatayud did not respond to CommunityWire’s requests for comment about her campaign. 

In a recent interview on the podcast Legally Spanglish, Calatayud said that the thing she was most proud of as a freshman senator was helping HIV-positive Floridians get back on medication.

“The federal government reduced the enhanced subsidies for the Affordable Care Act, and 12,000 HIV positive Floridians lost their medication. And I worked with Republicans and Democrats to craft a plan, to get them back on their medication in less than three weeks. And we’ve been able to commit to fully funding it for the next year. So, to me, that was a life-or-death issue, and it has been the most meaningful thing I’ve ever been a part of,” Calatayud told host Amanda Demanda.

Lamondin plans to bring different ideas to the statehouse, especially regarding the Live Local Act. He argues that the local government needs to have a greater say in what goes up in its own backyard. He also insists that the construction of these buildings needs to be publicly approved by the local community. 

“I can bring a practical mindset to the Florida Senate that transcends partisan boundaries, but also points out that my agenda is good for the bottom line of people,” Lamondin told CommunityWire.

As in the apparent toss up in Florida’s gubernatorial race, with Republican Byron Donalds showing a minor lead over Democrat David Jolly, this race also looks too close to call. Pollsters give a slight edge to Lamondin, according to State Navigate. 

District 38 has never been dominated by just one party. Both Democrats and Republicans have represented it since 2012, making it a particularly purple part of Miami-Dade County. The last Democrat to represent the district was Jason Pizzo, who won in 2018.  

Since this district has seen frequent changes in political representation and the disapproval of many local residents regarding over-development, District 38 is a race to watch. For Calatayud, a win can cement Republican dominance in the state of Florida. For Lamondin, an upset victory can start shifting the tides in state representation for the Democratic party: Republicans control both chambers of the statehouse, and the Sunshine state hasn’t had a Democratic governor in more than a quarter-century. 

Election Day is Nov. 3.   

This story is part of a statewide partnership of more than 30 nonpartisan newsrooms and universities working to help Florida voters make informed decisions in the 2026 elections. Learn more about the Florida Elections Reporting Partnership at floridaelections.org. News organizations are welcome to republish our work, as long as they credit the writer, Christian Gangan and CommunityWire.