Lincoln Rafael Díaz-Balart (born Lincoln Rafael Díaz-Balart y Caballero; August 13, 1954) is a Cuban-American attorney and politician. He was the U.S. representative for Florida's 21st congressional district from 1993 to 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party. He previously served in the Florida House of Representatives and the Florida Senate. He retired from Congress in 2011 and his younger brother, Mario Díaz-Balart, who had previously represented Florida's 25th congressional district, succeeded him. He is currently chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute. After leaving Congress, he started a law practice and a consulting firm, both based in Miami, Florida.

Díaz-Balart was born in Havana, Cuba, to the late Cuban politician Rafael Díaz-Balart and Hilda Caballero Brunet. His aunt, Mirta Díaz-Balart, was the first wife of the late Fidel Castro. Her son, and his cousin was the late Dr. Fidel Ángel "Fidelito" Castro Díaz-Balart. His uncle is the Cuban-Spanish painter, Waldo Díaz-Balart.^{[citation needed]}

He was educated at the American School of Madrid in Spain; New College of Florida; and Case Western Reserve University, from which he earned a law degree. He was involved in a Miami private practice for several years before holding elective office.^{[citation needed]}

In 1982, he ran for a Florida House of Representatives seat for District 113 as a Democrat and lost to the Republican, Humberto Cortina.^[5]

Díaz-Balart, as well as his immediate family, were all members of the Democratic Party. Díaz-Balart was the former president of the Dade County Young Democrats and the Florida Young Democrats, as well as a member of the executive committee of the Dade County Democratic Party.^[6] On April 24, 1985, Diaz-Balart, his wife, and brother Mario switched their registrations to Republican.^[7]

Díaz-Balart served as a Republican in the Florida House of Representatives from 1986 to 1989 and in the Florida Senate from 1989 to 1992.^{[citation needed]}

In general, Diaz-Balart's voting record has been moderate by Republican standards. His lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union is 73.^[8]

In 1994, he was one of only three Republican incumbents not to sign the Republican Contract with America. He objected to provisions in its welfare reform section that would deny federal programs to legal immigrants.^[9]

In 2006, he voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment and in 2009 voted for the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which expanded the federal hate crime law to include a person's perceived gender, sexual orientation, identity or disability.^[10] In December 2010, Diaz-Balart was one of fifteen Republican House members to vote in favor of repealing the United States military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ban on openly gay service members.^[11][12]

He was a sponsor of the Homeland Security Act. He was a sponsor of the DREAM Act which seeks to facilitate access for illegal immigrant students to post-secondary education by allowing states to have power to determine requirements for in-state tuition.^[13]

He achieved passage into law of historic pieces of legislation – such as the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (NACARA), and the codification of the U.S. embargo on Cuba (requiring that all political prisoners be freed and multi-party elections scheduled in Cuba before U.S. sanctions can be lifted). Diaz-Balart took the rule to the floor of the House for passage of the legislation that created the Department of Homeland Security and the extension (for 25 years) of the Voting Rights Act.^{[citation needed]}

Díaz-Balart is married to Cristina Fernandez and had two children: Lincoln Jr. and Daniel. Lincoln died on May 19, 2013, at the age of 29.^[21] His family said he had battled depression for many years.^[22]

Díaz-Balart's brother, Mario Díaz-Balart, previously represented the 25th district of Florida, moved to the 21st district, but moved back to the 25th district after redistricting. He has two other brothers: José Díaz-Balart, a journalist and anchorman of the Saturday edition of the NBC Nightly News, and Rafael Díaz-Balart, a consultant.^{[citation needed]}

• List of Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States Congress