CORAL GABLES, Fla. — In 2020, Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar’s (R-Fla.) Miami seat was ground zero for the massive Latino swing toward Republicans in the Donald Trump era. Six years after Salazar first flipped her seat red, Florida Democrats feel they can knock her off because of a restless electorate fuming at Trump’s mass deportations and high prices.
Salazar is still a favorite to win another term, as evidenced by her 20-point reelection victory in 2024. But the top Democrats vying to unseat her — Robin Peguero and Eliott Rodriguez — say Salazar has failed to stick up for her constituents amid Trump’s deportation push.
Salazar acknowledged that Trump’s policies are a “problem” for her district and she’s urging the president to refocus his immigration agenda.
“The problem comes when we are deporting those who do not have a criminal record,” Salazar told us at the House GOP retreat. “My constituents don’t like this because those people are contributing to the construction, hospitality, agricultural, health care sectors.”
But Democrats say Salazar’s rhetoric doesn’t match her actions.
“Salazar needs to speak up if she really means what she’s saying about being a champion of immigrants,” Rodriguez said.
Primary watch. The top two contenders in the Democratic primary are Peguero, a former prosecutor and Capitol Hill staffer backed by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus BOLD PAC, and Rodriguez, a longtime local TV anchor who jumped into the race on Tuesday.
Peguero has raised $700,000 to date. But Rodriguez enters with massive name recognition due to his decades-long television career.
“People say, ‘Oh, you’ve been coming into my home at night, during the daytime. I trust you,’” Rodriguez recounted. Rodriguez also said his Cuban-American identity will mean Salazar “can’t accuse me of being a communist, which is her normal playbook.”
Peguero said the primary shouldn’t be a “coronation” simply due to Rodriguez’s local celebrity status.
“I haven’t been neutral for 20 years while I’ve watched my country really stick it to the working class,” Peguero said. “Maria Elvira Salazar was a TV journalist with zero experience… we don’t need more of the same.”
Both Democrats also said the affordability crisis is hitting Miami residents particularly hard. And both noted the district has a large number of ACA enrollees who were hurt by the expiration of the enhanced tax credits.
