Miami-Dade Democrats have endorsed Eliott Rodriguez for Florida’s 27th Congressional District in his race against Republican incumbent María Elvira Salazar. After a distinguished career reporting the news in South Florida, he is running for Congress with a platform centered on lowering the cost of living, protecting Social Security and Medicare, pursuing comprehensive immigration reform and bringing greater independence and accountability to Washington. His campaign has made South Florida’s affordability crisis a central issue.
Rodriguez has also earned the endorsement of the Miami Herald Editorial Board.
A History of Telling South Florida’s Story
For generations of Miami residents, Eliott Rodriguez has been a familiar face.
The son of Cuban immigrants, Rodriguez moved to Miami with his family when he was 12. He attended Shenandoah Junior High, studied at Miami Dade College and graduated from the University of Miami.
His journalism career began in newspapers before moving into television. Over the years, he reported for the Miami News and Miami Herald and worked at WTVJ, WPLG and CBS News Miami.
Rodriguez covered many of the stories that shaped modern South Florida, from Hurricane Andrew and the Mariel boatlift to the Surfside condominium collapse. His international reporting took him throughout Latin America, including assignments in Cuba, Panama, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
During his career, he received three Emmy Awards, four Edward R. Murrow Awards and the Silver Circle Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
His campaign for Congress is rooted in many of the same issues he spent his career covering: the rising cost of living in South Florida, immigration and government accountability.
A Focus on Affordability and Miami Families
Rodriguez has made affordability a centerpiece of his campaign.
His proposals include expanding workforce housing and incentives for first-time homebuyers, encouraging housing construction near transit and employment centers, pursuing a federal backstop to help stabilize Florida’s homeowners insurance market, and strengthening protections against price fixing and hidden fees.
On healthcare and retirement security, Rodriguez says he will defend Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and Affordable Care Act coverage. He supports allowing Americans between ages 55 and 64 to voluntarily buy into Medicare and additional efforts to lower prescription drug costs.
On immigration, Rodriguez supports secure borders and faster immigration and asylum processing while also calling for humane treatment and comprehensive reform. His platform includes protections for Dreamers, Venezuelans and Haitians and fair processing for eligible Cubans with unresolved immigration cases.
He has also called for stronger congressional ethics rules, restrictions on stock trading by members of Congress and greater oversight of presidential power.
Voting Against Investments That Helped Miami-Dade
Salazar’s record also includes votes against major Biden-era legislation that ultimately brought substantial federal investment to Miami-Dade.
In 2021, she voted against the American Rescue Plan. Miami-Dade later received approximately $527.7 million from the law to maintain government services and respond to the economic effects of the pandemic.
She also voted against the bipartisan infrastructure law, which passed the House with support from Democrats and 13 Republicans and later funded transportation and infrastructure projects throughout South Florida.
Perhaps the clearest example came with the 2023 federal spending package. Salazar helped secure $4.17 million for Miami-Dade stormwater improvements and police technology, but then voted against the final legislation containing that funding. The package ultimately provided more than $20 million for Miami-Dade resilience projects.
These votes raise a straightforward question about whether District 27 should be represented by someone who will consistently support the investments South Florida families and communities depend on.
Immigration and Accountability
Immigration is another major dividing line in the race.
Rodriguez has criticized Salazar for supporting Republican immigration policies and funding while later distancing herself from the Trump administration’s enforcement approach.
In September, Salazar released a campaign advertisement saying some of Trump’s immigration enforcement efforts had gone “too far.” Rodriguez responded that mass deportation had long been part of Trump’s stated agenda and argued that Salazar was trying to distance herself from policies she had previously supported.
For Rodriguez, the issue is not simply rhetoric. His campaign argues that Miami deserves representation willing to stand up for immigrant families consistently, not only when political pressure grows.
The Choice in District 27
Both candidates come from Cuban-American families, built prominent careers in South Florida television and have deep connections to Miami-Dade.
But they offer voters very different approaches to Congress.
Salazar has represented the district since 2021 and has repeatedly supported major pieces of the Republican legislative agenda, including votes against federal investments that later delivered hundreds of millions of dollars to Miami-Dade.
Rodriguez is asking voters to send him to Washington for the first time. His campaign is focused on affordability, housing, healthcare, Social Security and Medicare, immigration reform and greater accountability in government.
After a career spent asking questions and reporting on the decisions that shaped South Florida, Rodriguez is now asking voters to give him the opportunity to help make those decisions in Congress.
The Miami-Dade Democratic Party has endorsed Eliott Rodriguez for Congress in Florida’s 27th District.
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