Freshman Curbelo wins reelection in Fla.

Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R) is projected to win reelection to his South Florida House seat. 

Curbelo, a freshman who carved out a moderate streak during his first term, is expected to defeat former Rep. Joe Garcia in a rematch from two years ago. 

{mosads}Curbelo’s Miami-area district was host to one of the nation’s most tightly contested House races. 

It attracted $14.3 million in outside spending, fifth most among House races this cycle according to RealClearPolitics and was considered a toss-up by most prognosticators going into the final week of the campaign.   

The race had acrimonious moments, with Curbelo dredging up old scandals involving Garcia’s 2012 campaign for Congress. 

Garcia was unable to make inroads by connecting Curbelo to Donald Trump, whom Curbelo long said he would not support. 

In fact, the incumbent turned Trump on Garcia, linking the GOP presidential nominee to a secret recording of Garcia questioning whether voters would find Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton attractive. 

Curbelo is a notably moderate member of the Republican conference, securing the lowest score among Florida Republicans on various conservative groups’ scorecards. His support for action on climate change won him the endorsement of EDF Action, a green group that spent heavily on ads supporting his reelection. 

While making his case, Garcia slammed Curbelo for opposing ObamaCare and questioned whether Curbelo was the right representative for the district’s sizable Cuban population.

Garcia rolled out an endorsement message from President Obama late in the campaign, but his support among Democrats was not automatic. 

The Democratic Congressional Committee endorsed a different candidate ahead of the primary election, though it ended up spending more than $4.3 million on the race to ultimately aid his bid.