Alberto Hernandez, 29, is running for a seat in the Florida House of Representatives in the 2024 general election, but he’s not a politician — he’s a student at Florida Atlantic University.

Hernandez, a senior at FAU’s Wilkes Honors College on the Jupiter campus, is majoring in international studies with a minor in Spanish literature. He decided to run for a Democratic seat in District 86 of the Fla. House primarily because of his passion for addressing climate change. 

Specifically, he is upset with the current administration under Gov. Ron DeSantis removing the scientifically-backed term “climate change” from legislation. To Hernandez, taking away the term is “cutting off limbs of our scientists and their ability to actually work practically.” He says having to watch scientists try to work with what limited resources the state gives them is an “incredible crisis.”

“It was like a hummingbird bringing drops of water to a forest fire,” Hernandez said.

Despite climate change being his main motivator for running, his top priority is the housing affordability crisis. The Florida Housing Coalition found in 2022 that over 2.1 million low-income Florida households spend over 30% of their income on housing.

“It’s a crisis. It’s a real crisis,” Hernandez said. “I know engineers who’ve been working as engineers for 10 years, lawyers, military professionals and Ph.D’s who cannot afford to live, who cannot afford a home in the state anymore.”

Hernandez also hopes that by campaigning, he will encourage more young people to not only vote but to take on a more active role in the legislative process, whether it be by volunteering for campaigns, attending town hall meetings or even running for local, state or federal office.

Most people holding a seat in office are older, in a higher tax bracket and are only running to protect their financial assets, according to Hernandez.

“They don’t care about the future. They’re voting in a way that is protecting their assets. We need to bring young people. We need people who need young people to protect our assets,” Hernandez said.

Celia Roberts, a recent graduate from the FAU Wilkes Honors College and the campaign manager for Hernandez, has been handling endorsements and fundraising. Roberts has known Hernandez since 2021, when they were both obtaining their associate’s degrees from Palm Beach State College and transferred to FAU. She has also participated in the National Model United Nations (NMUN) with Hernandez.

Because of how long they’ve known each other, Roberts said they fell into a natural partnership when he decided to run for office.

“He’s incredibly enthusiastic, and I think that enthusiasm really does well for this campaign,” Roberts said.

Roberts believes this year is really important for young people to engage in politics, with this historical presidential election and the different issues on the ballot, such as abortion access and marijuana legalization.

“That’s definitely a major goal of our campaign, making sure all voices are heard and that younger voters do engage more than just going in and casting their vote in a presidential election,” said Celia Roberts, Hernandez’s campaign manager.

The UP reached out to his Republican opponent and current representative for District 86 in the Fla. House, John Snyder. The UP also contacted multiple professors who have taught Hernandez for comment but did not receive any responses by the time of publication.

Hernandez does not have any previous experience in politics. He credits his involvement in the NMUN for his success.

“Model UN was the perfect primer in so many ways,” he said. “The entire course, you’re studying problems, and you’re seeing how policymakers are trying to address those problems.”

Emma Leonardo Solórzano, a friend of Hernandez, met him during some political science classes and worked closely with him in the NMUN. She is the director of communications for his campaign, in charge of social media, community outreach, email communications and photography.

She emphasized how hard-working Hernandez is and how much he values education.

“We came from similar backgrounds, you know, working class. He knows what it’s like to struggle, and he works extremely hard,” Solórzano said. “… He is someone that, if you need help, he will be there for you and do everything in his abilities to help you, and he’s very dedicated to whatever he sets his mind to.”

Despite this being the first time Hernandez is running for office, it’s not his first time involved in a campaign. He handled social media, campaign messaging and made promotional videos for Thomas Witkop’s Democratic campaign for the United States House of Representatives. Witkop is currently the youngest congressional nominee, at only 25 years old.

Witkop met Hernandez while he was working at El Sol, a nonprofit resource center in Jupiter that aims to provide education, job opportunities, healthcare, food and youth services to the community. Hernandez came into the center as an intern and took over social media for Witkop.

After a year of working with Hernandez, Witkop told him he was planning to run for U.S. Congress.

“I remember when I told Alberto that, he was actually an intern of mine at the time, and he goes, ‘That’s fantastic. I’m so, so impressed.’ And he was extremely, extremely encouraging at the time, especially when a lot of people kind of thought I was crazy to do something like that,” Witkop said.

He shared the same sentiments about Hernandez, now that he is also running for Congress, though at a state level.

“I am just always impressed by Alberto. He’s like the common man’s man; like, he’s out getting his college education, he’s a contractor,” Witkop said. “He’s a son of two Cuban immigrants, like he’s the ideal American, in my opinion, and now he’s going to be the ideal American politician. So, I think there’s a hell of a narrative there.”

Hernandez and Witkop attended a forum by the League of Women Voters at Indian River State College on Oct. 16, where the moderators asked Republican and Democratic attendees a series of questions.

“… Just the way that he expressed himself, and not only his content was superb, but also the style in which he presented it was extremely compelling,” Witkop said, also noting that he was impressed by Hernandez’s open-mindedness.

Hernandez is transparent about the expenses involved in running for office. He says he spent around $1500 to file and that he believes campaigning is really a game of fundraising. Despite this, he believes anyone has the power to solve problems on a political level, including university students.

“I’m a firm believer that everyone is an intellectual. Everyone can look at these problems and think of a way to solve them,” he said.

Elisabeth Gaffney is the Editor-at-Large for the University Press. For more information on this article or others, you can reach Elisabeth at elisabethgaffreports@gmail.com or DM her on Instagram @elisabethgaff.