CBS News Miami anchor Eliott Rodriguez reacts as he is reprimanded by Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo during a City of Miami mayoral debate hosted by the Downtown Neighbors Alliance at Hyatt Regency Miami on Tuesday, September 30, 2025, in Miami, Fla. Other candidates in attendance included former Miami-Dade Commissioner Eileen Higgins, former Commissioners Ken Russell and Alex Díaz de la Portilla, former Mayor Xavier Suarez and former City Manager Emilio T. Gonzalez.
D.A. Varela
dvarela@miamiherald.com
Democrat Eliott Rodriguez and Republican incumbent U.S. Rep Maria Elvira Salazar, two Cuban-American former South Florida TV news anchors, will face off in November to represent Miami-Dade in Congressional District 27.
Heavily Latino District 27 includes downtown Miami, Coral Gables, Virginia Key, Pinecrest, Kendall, Palmetto Bay and Cutler Bay. Salazar, who was first elected in 2020 and re-elected twice, easily beat lawyer Michael Arias in the Republican primaries. Rodriguez, a former CBS News Miami anchor, beat Robin Peguero, a former local prosecutor who investigated Jan. 6 rioters for Congress.
Though President Donald Trump won Miami-Dade County in 2024, Democrats will surely be on the attack over Trump’s unpopular immigration policies. Cubans and Venezuelans, communities that have historically supported Trump, have felt the brunt of his mass deportation campaign in South Florida.
Salazar, a firm Trump supporter, has broken with Republicans on immigration and pushed the Dignity Act, a bill that would grant certain undocumented immigrants a legal status that protect them from deportation. Rodriguez slammed Salazar’s bill, calling it the “Indignity Act” because it doesn’t provide a pathway to citizenship, he told WLRN.