The anniversary of Laken Riley is a reminder that U.S. Representative Darren Soto always voted to make Central Florida less safe on this issue, and it opens the vulnerable Democrat to Republicans.
This week, President Donald Trump touted the success of the Laken Riley Act, bipartisan legislation that cracks down on crime by forcing ICE to take into custody illegal immigrants charged with theft-related crimes. The President said that already, the bill has led to the arrest of 21,000 criminal illegal immigrants.
This announcement comes on the heels of other positive crime trends in Orlando and Central Florida. Over the past three years, crime in Orlando has dropped overall, homicide rates dropped to their lowest levels since recording first started in 1971, and in 2025 homicides decreased by 68%.
But Central Florida Congressman Darren Soto can’t really take credit for being part of the crime reduction, and his votes will be used against him. All of this progress in Orlando on crime is in spite of “out of touch” Rep. Darren Soto’s best efforts to keep crime rates high and his district less safe, according to Republicans.
Rep. Soto voted against the Laken Riley Act three different times. In 2025, he voted against the HALT Fentanyl Act, a commonsense, bipartisan bill to help ensure law enforcement has the resources needed to get deadly drugs off Florida’s streets.
In 2024, Rep. Soto voted against a bill that gives off-duty officers a greater ability to protect themselves. And in 2023, he voted against making it a deportable offense to assault a police officer.
According to many constituents in the contested congressional district, and to Republicans, Democratic Rep. Darren Soto tried to make Central Florida less safe with his official votes for years.
“Out of touch radical Darren Soto has done everything in his power to make Central Florida more dangerous,” said NRCC Spokeswoman Maureen O’Toole. “Soto’s constituents have become safer in spite of his radical record, and we’ll make sure voters know it.”
In this upcoming election with major national implications, this will likely be a major issue.
The anniversary of Laken Riley is another reminder of Darren Soto’s votes and how the could impact Florida. Democrats are hoping to use the immigration issue in their favor, especially to hold this congressional seat, but expect a hard-hitting Republican campaign over Rep. Soto’s votes.
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