Darren Michael Soto is a legislator, commercial and civil rights attorney, conservationist, and musician from Kissimmee, Florida, who is the representative in Congress for Florida’s Ninth Congressional District.

He was born in Ringwood, New Jersey, to a Puerto Rican father, O. Lou Soto, and an Italian-American mother, Jean Soto. He attended Lakeland Regional High School, got his Bachelor of Arts in economics from Rutgers University in 2000, and his Juris Doctor from George Washington University in 2004.

He moved to Florida in 2002 and was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2007 in a special election. In 2012, Florida Senate districts were redrawn, and Soto opted not to run for reelection in the House. Instead, he decided to run for the newly created 14^th district, which included predominantly Latino areas of Orange, Osceola, and Polk Counties.

He ran for Congress in 2016 and became the first congressman of Puerto Rican descent elected to represent Florida.

Over the course of his career, Soto has championed clean energy, veterans’ benefits, Puerto Rico disaster recovery, and major infrastructure projects across Central Florida. He serves on the House Energy and Commerce and Natural Resources Committees, where he focuses on jobs, technology, healthcare, and protecting Florida’s environment.