Who's running in Florida's 27th congressional district
2 candidates are on the ballot. Below is what each one says they stand for, what they have actually done in office or in public life, and the arguments published for and against them — each quoted from a named source rather than summarised by us.
2 candidates · ballot order · Maria Elvira Salazar currently holds this seat
Medium confidenceMedium confidenceThe candidate's stated positions and basic record are documented, but coverage is thin — often little independent reporting, or criticism from only one side.What would raise it: More independent reporting, a documented voting record, or published criticism from a named opponent would raise this.
What they say they stand for
Their own words. Claims, not verified facts.
The economy and small business in South Florida.
Improving health care access and quality.
Public safety and support for law enforcement.
Environmental protection.
Regional infrastructure.
Opposition to socialism, which her campaign lists as a distinct priority.
What they’ve actually done
Documented record from official sources.
U.S. Representative for the 27th District since January 2021; re-elected in 2024 with 60.4%.
Award-winning television journalist covering Latin America before Congress.
Daughter of Cuban exiles.
Advanced from the August 18, 2026 Republican primary.
Arguments in favor
Her Dignity Act is what the country is actually looking for on immigration: it secures the border while dealing with people who have no criminal record and have contributed to the economy, and it covers concerns on both left and right.
— Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), a cosponsor, quoted by Fox News
The bill is a serious attempt at the whole system rather than a gesture — it addresses multiple layers of problems throughout the immigration system, and its tension with a mass-deportation platform is not irreconcilable, because it targets legalisation at people without criminal records.
— Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh of the Migration Policy Institute and David Bier of the Cato Institute, quoted by Newsweek
Arguments against
The Dignity Act is rank amnesty and a terrible betrayal of the voters who elected this majority on mass deportations. Dignity belongs to Americans, the people we represent, not to illegal aliens.
— Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas), with Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) calling it "just amnesty" and Homeland PAC formed to campaign against its Republican cosponsors
She raises her constituents' costs and then claims credit she has not earned: eight votes to uphold tariffs that cost a district family about $3,000 a year, a failure to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits followed by a deleted post claiming she had, and repeated credit-taking for federal investments she voted against.
— Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
What we couldn’t verify
Her campaign lists issue headings without the detail behind them; her campaign site does not state a position on immigration, the area she has legislated in most.
Her committee assignments were not established from the sources found.
The DCCC also refers to her stock trades and her committee position. The trades themselves, and any finding about them, were not established from the sources found, so that claim is recorded here rather than presented as an argument.
Making South Florida affordable, including building workforce housing and stabilising the insurance market.
Defending Social Security and Medicare.
Strengthening the economy in a district where he says wages have not kept pace with groceries, insurance and borrowing costs.
Protecting the environment and investing in education.
Opposition to what he calls the politics of cruelty toward immigrants.
What they’ve actually done
Documented record from official sources.
Forty years as a broadcast journalist covering South Florida.
Won the August 18, 2026 Democratic primary.
Has not held elected office.
Arguments in favor
He is the strongest candidate Democrats have fielded here: he won the endorsement of the paper's editorial board, of state Sen. Shevrin Jones, former U.S. Rep. Ron Klein and a list of local officials, and beat a better-funded opponent 53.5% to 46.5%.
— Miami Herald editorial board endorsement, as reported by WLRN
Forty years on South Florida television gives him name recognition no previous challenger had, which is why Democrats treat this as their first real chance to contest a seat Salazar carried by about 20 points in 2024.
— WLRN
Arguments against
Nobody knew Rodriguez was a Democrat until a few months before he announced, because he spent his career as a journalist — his party credentials are untested.
— Robin Peguero, his primary opponent, as reported by Political Cortadito, whose columnist dismissed the charge on the ground that an anchor's voting record would not have been public
The choice is clear: keep moving South Florida forward, or turn the community over to a Democratic Party increasingly infiltrated by socialists whose policies mean higher costs, weaker borders, more government control and less freedom.
— Maria Elvira Salazar
What we couldn’t verify
His positions on health care financing, foreign policy and taxation were not stated in material available.
He has held no elected office, so there is no voting record to weigh against his campaign's positions. Beyond his primary opponent's credentials argument and Salazar's party framing, no criticism of him by name was found from the National Republican Congressional Committee or from news coverage.
His fundraising totals were not reported in material available.
Positions and criticism are quoted from the named sources, not our assessments. This is built to help you start getting informed — confirm the official candidate list with your election authority before you vote.
Florida held its primary on August 18, 2026. Republican incumbent Maria Elvira Salazar and Democrat Eliott Rodriguez are the two candidates on the November ballot. Florida enacted a new congressional map in May 2026 that reworked most of the state's districts, this one among them; it covers Miami and surrounding communities. Roster from the Florida qualifying lists as reported by Politics1 and Wikipedia. Salazar's Dignity Act immigration bill is the axis of the race: it draws support from Democrats and criticism from members of her own party, and both are set out below alongside the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's case against her. Rodriguez has held no office, so the case against him comes from his primary opponent and from Salazar's campaign rather than from a record.
This is one contest on a longer ballot
A Florida ballot also carries state legislative districts, county offices, judicial seats and often local questions — and which of them you vote on is decided by your street address, not your city or ZIP code.
Your ballot is determined by your election authority, not by us. Verify your registration, precinct, and sample ballot at Florida Division of Elections.