Jackie Toledo
Jackie Toledo is an American politician who is a member of the Florida House of Representatives. She is a member of the Florida Republican Party. The district she represents, District 60, covers Town 'n Country, South Tampa, and a stretch of the coast in Southern Hillsborough County to Ruskin. Background. Jackie Toledo was born in Lima, Peru and immigrated to the United States as a child. She graduated from Gaither High School in Tampa, Florida and the University of South Florida. She is a civil engineer with NUE Urban Concepts. Toledo had five children with José Angel Toledo , who she divorced in October 2019. In October 2019, José Angel Toledo was disbarred for abandoning his law practice and withholding settlement money from clients. It is suspected that José Angel Toledo fled the country. Political campaigns. 2015. Toledo unsuccessfully ran for Tampa City Council in 2015 in District 6, a seat made up mostly of West Tampa, against Guido Maniscalco, winning 49% of the vote. Many credit her loss to "a barrage of nasty attack ads against Maniscalco flooded area mailboxes." 2016. Toledo won the Republican primary for Florida House District 60 again businesswoman Rebecca Smith by 246 votes  (1.96%). She went on to win the general election against Democratic opponent, land use attorney David Singer, with 57% of the vote. Among the primary platform points of Toledo's 2016 campaign were that she was supported by the NRA and she would repeal in-state tuition and law licenses for "illegal aliens.” 2018. Toledo won reelection in 2018 with 52.24% of the vote. 2020. Toledo faced a Democratic opponent, Julie Jenkins, in her 2020 campaign for reelection. Florida House of Representatives. Toledo served as the Florida Houses' deputy majority whip during her first term. She also served as the  chair of the Women's Caucus. Political positions. Abortion and birth control. In 2017, Toledo introduced a bill to the Florida House of Representatives to "promote and encourage childbirth," by funding anti-abortion organizations. The bill directed state funds to Florida Pregnancy Care Network, Inc., an organization that explicitly does not make referrals to abortion providers, with the funds earmarked to support direct client services, promotional campaigns, and a call center. The bill restricted Florida Pregnancy Care Network to only subcontracting with "providers that exclusively promote and support childbirth". Opponents to the bill objected that it would block the state  from awarding contracts to organizations that provide information on birth control and abortion services. Other concerns with the bill included that it was duplicative of the Healthy Start program; it spent money with an organization offering referrals rather than healthcare; and, though the bill blocked providers from discussing religion, provided the funds to an organization with a religious agenda. Education. In 2018, Toledo supported a bill that created a new class of charter schools. In 2018, Toledo received an "F" rating from the Florida Education Association. Electric and hybrid vehicles. In 2020, Toledo introduced a bill that would have increased  the license tax for electric and hybrid vehicles to be the same as all other vehicles and would add an additional $150–250 fee for electric vehicles and $50 for hybrid vehicles, on top of the regular tax amounts, with those fees set to increase every five years. Gun control. In Toledo's 2016 campaign, she received an "A" rating from the NRA. In 2018, her rating dropped to a "C" for supporting legislation, following the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting that raised the age to purchase of a rifle from 18 to 21 and put armed officers in  schools. In 2018, Toledo voted against banning semiautomatic rifles. Toledo supported Florida's Stand-your-ground law, calling "a tool to help people protect themselves." Immigration. In her 2016 campaign, Toledo promised to repeal in-state tuition and law licenses for "illegal aliens.” However, when a bill was introduced in 2018 to repeal in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants, Toledo was not a sponsor and never publicly commented on it. Medicaid. Toledo opposed Florida taking federal money to expand Medicaid. Voting rights. Toledo supported 2019 legislation restricting voting rights to individuals who have received a felony to those who paid  all fines and fees resulting from the sentence or probation. The bill was associated with the 2018 Florida constitutional amendments voters passed to restore the voting rights of individuals who received felonies.