Florida House of Representatives Barreiro was first elected into public office in 1992 to serve in the Florida House of Representatives representing District 107. While serving in the Florida House of Representatives, he chaired the Tourism Committee. He also got the nickname "el mudo" (the mute).
Miami-Dade County Commission On June 2, 1998, Barreiro was elected to serve as Miami-Dade County Commissioner representing District 5. He served as Chairman of the Board of County Commissioners in 2007 and 2008. He was re-elected for subsequent terms to represent constituents in portions of the Cities of Miami and Miami Beach, as well as the communities of Little Havana, Downtown, and South Beach. Barreiro was a key figure behind the
Marlins Park baseball stadium in Miami, which attracted controversy due to its enormous cost to Miami-Dade County and benefit to Marlins owner
Jeffrey Loria. Barreiro voted in 2012 to award a $25 Million contract to Munilla Construction Management (MCM) for a testing track for
Metrorail cars after receiving maximum donations from 4 Munilla family members, renting subsidized office space from the family, and acknowledging he was "close friends" with the family members. As of November 30, 2015, $21 Million of the $25 Million contract had been paid and construction was never completed. In 2018, the
Miami Herald described Barreiro as "a powerful figure in Miami politics."
2018 U.S. House campaign In May 2017, Barreiro announced he would run for
Florida's 27th congressional district in the 2018 election, after incumbent Congresswoman
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen announced she was retiring. On March 31, 2018, Barreiro resigned his County Commission seat to run for Congress, following a change in Florida's resign-to-run law. He timed his resignation so that a special election would be called, in which his wife Zoraida could win his seat. He used over $95,000 of his own campaign funds to support Zoraida, but she lost the June special election to Democratic candidate
Eileen Higgins.
2020 Florida House of Representatives Barreiro ran for District 112 in the
2020 Florida House of Representatives election, challenging incumbent
Nick Duran. Duran defeated Barreiro 53%-47%.
2021 Miami City Commission On June 4, 2021, Barreiro filed paperwork to challenge
Joe Carollo for city commission district 3. He withdrew from the race on July 21. ==Electoral history==