Career
He was first elected to the Florida House in 2002 and reelected successively in 2006 and 2008, and chaired the Human Services Appropriations Committee. Since 2012, he has served as the Miami-Dade County Board of Commissioners for District 11. Zapata was the first Colombian-American elected to the Florida House and the Miami-Dade Board of Commissioners.
He was born in Medellín, Colombia and moved to Florida in 1977.
