Former CBS Miami anchor Eliott Rodriguez is challenging Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) for her Miami-based House seat, adding a prominent name to the South Florida race as Democrats look to flip Republicans’ narrow GOP House majority.

“I’m now watching the news, not just as a journalist, but as a citizen, and I’ve grown deeply concerned that Washington is simply not delivering,” Rodriguez said in his launch video, “The people we send there are focused on political theater and culture wars instead of solutions.”

“I’m the son of Cuban immigrants who came here and lived the American Dream,” he said.  “They taught me that citizenship isn’t just a right, it’s a responsibility. Today, I’ve made the decision to answer that call.”

Rodriguez’s video announcement leaned into many of the issues Democrats are eyeing this cycle, including affordability and the Trump administration’s handling of immigration.

Rodriguez, who last month said he was considering a run for the South Florida seat, capped off a 25-year tenure at CBS Miami late last year. During his career, Rodriguez interviewed former Cuban leader Fidel Castro and covered his funeral in 2016, covered Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and the Surfside condo collapse in 2021, among other stories.

Salazar, like Rodriguez, is the daughter of Cuban immigrants and is also a former journalist, having previously worked for Telemundo, Univision, AmericaTeve, MegaTV, and CNN en Español.

Rodriguez joins several other Democrats who are also looking to unseat Salazar: Robin Peguero, who served as investigative counsel for the House select committee investigating the 2021 Capitol attack; environmental services businessman Richard Lamondin and accountant Alexander Fornino.

President Trump notably flipped Miami-Dade County in 2024 and made inroads with a number of key voting blocs that election cycle, including Hispanic and Latino voters, Black voters and young men.

Yet, prominent races during the 2025 election cycle have suggested some of those same groups may now be warming back toward Democrats. Still, Salazar’s district is more comfortably Republican, having gone for the president by 15 points in 2024, according to The Downballot.

The Democratic primary is Aug. 18.

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