Former CBS Miami anchor Eliott Rodriguez\u00a0is challenging\u00a0Rep. Mar\u00eda Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.)\u00a0for her Miami-based House seat,\u00a0adding a prominent name to the\u00a0South Florida\u00a0race as Democrats look to\u00a0flip Republicans\u2019 narrow GOP House majority.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m now watching the news, not just as a journalist, but as a citizen, and I\u2019ve grown deeply concerned that Washington is simply not delivering,\u201d Rodriguez said in his launch\u00a0video,\u00a0\u201cThe people we send there are focused on political theater and\u00a0culture\u00a0wars instead of solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m the son of Cuban immigrants who came here and lived the American Dream,\u201d he said. \u00a0\u201cThey taught me that citizenship\u00a0isn\u2019t\u00a0just a\u00a0right,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0a responsibility. Today,\u00a0I\u2019ve\u00a0made the decision to answer that call.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rodriguez\u2019s video announcement leaned into\u00a0many of the issues Democrats are eyeing this cycle, including affordability\u00a0and\u00a0the Trump administration\u2019s handling of immigration.<\/p>\n
Rodriguez, who last month said he was considering a run for the South Florida seat,\u00a0capped off a 25-year\u00a0tenure\u00a0at CBS Miami late last year.\u00a0During his career,\u00a0Rodriguez\u00a0interviewed\u00a0former Cuban leader Fidel Castro and covered his funeral in 2016, covered Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and the Surfside\u00a0condo\u00a0collapse\u00a0in 2021, among other stories.<\/p>\n
Salazar, like Rodriguez, is the daughter of Cuban immigrants\u00a0and\u00a0is\u00a0also a former journalist, having previously worked for Telemundo, Univision,\u00a0AmericaTeve,\u00a0MegaTV, and CNN\u00a0en Espa\u00f1ol.<\/p>\n
Rodriguez joins several other Democrats who are also looking to unseat Salazar:\u00a0Robin Peguero, who served as investigative counsel for the\u00a0House select committee investigating the 2021 Capitol attack; environmental services\u00a0businessman\u00a0Richard Lamondin and accountant\u00a0Alexander Fornino.<\/p>\n
President Trump notably flipped Miami-Dade County in\u00a02024\u00a0and made inroads with\u00a0a number of\u00a0key voting blocs that election cycle, including Hispanic and Latino voters, Black\u00a0voters\u00a0and young men.<\/p>\n
Yet, prominent races during the 2025 election cycle have suggested some of those same groups may now be warming back toward Democrats. Still, Salazar\u2019s district is more comfortably Republican, having gone for the president by\u00a015 points in 2024,\u00a0according to The\u00a0Downballot.<\/a><\/p>\n The Democratic primary is Aug. 18.<\/p>\n Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n