Hialeah - Saturday August 28, 2022: Charlie Crist, the democratic nominee for Governor, has chosen Karla Hernandez to be his running mate.
Since 2016, Hernandez has served as the President of the United Teachers of Dade, the largest teachers’ union in the southeastern United States, and the fourth largest in the country. As President, she helped mobilize the educators and Miami-Dade community members to successfully pass an initiative to give public school teachers a salary raise and improve security in schools. Hernandez is was selected as Hialeah Middle School’s Teacher of the Year in 2010.
“It’s time to send a teacher of the year to Tallahassee.," said Crist who made the announcement Saturday in Hialeah. "Karla’s story is a Florida story – a first-generation American who dedicated her life to service, she became a Miami-Dade public school teacher, and a fierce defender of working Floridians and a woman’s right to choose."
“I am deeply honored to be joining this ticket," said Hernandez. "It’s the opportunity of a lifetime to fight for Floridians as their next Lieutenant Governor.”
Hernandez was born and raised in Miami to immigrants from Honduras. She is the first person in her family to graduate from college. Her father worked picking tomatoes in the Everglades before becoming a carpenter and labor leader.