National Democrats are piling into a South Florida House race they barely discussed a year ago. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries will campaign in Miami on Friday for Eliott Rodriguez, the former CBS Miami anchor, days after the party elevated him to its top tier of pickup targets, as Republican Representative María Elvira Salazar fights to hold a district Trump won by 15 points in 2024. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's Red to Blue program, which Rodriguez recently joined, gives candidates fundraising, staff and strategic support in the races the party sees as its best chances to flip.
Florida's 27th Congressional District became a symbol of Republican gains among Hispanic voters during the Trump era. But this fall, an immigration crackdown hit the district hard, Salazar clashed publicly with the president, and polls began showing a tight race. "As things stand, this race is likely to come down to only a few hundred votes, so every conversation we have over the next few weeks could be the tipping point that helps Democrats win back the House," the Rodriguez campaign said in an email to Newsweek on Thursday.
Jeffries and Rodriguez are scheduled to hold a joint campaign appearance and take questions from local and national reporters Friday morning in Miami-Dade County. Early voting in the county opens Monday, and mail ballots are already coming back. "Once someone has voted, our chance to reach them is gone," the campaign said.
The Cook Political Report has moved the race two categories since the spring, from Solid Republican to Lean Republican, though it still says Salazar's fundraising edge gives her the advantage. The DCCC lists the seat among six Florida districts it is targeting. Rodriguez, the son of Cuban immigrants, has lived in the district since 1968.
It covers parts of Miami, Coral Gables, Kendall, Key Biscayne and Pinecrest and is roughly 74 percent Hispanic. He told Newsweek earlier this month that the numbers were what pushed him in. "The polling shows that I can beat María Elvira Salazar.
So, I said, yeah, I'll do it," he said. No independent pollster has surveyed the race, and the polls released so far were all commissioned by Democrats, but they point to a tight contest. A Tulchin Research poll of 600 likely voters, commissioned by the Democratic-aligned House Majority PAC and conducted September 8 to 13, gave Salazar a 47 percent to 46 percent lead.
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