The Democratic candidate Eliott Rodríguez claims that he is the only contender from his party with a real chance of taking the seat in Florida's District 27 from the Republican María Elvira Salazar, and he states it plainly: "The difference is that I can win. I can win in the general election."
The former news anchor, who announced his candidacy for Congress in March of this year, acknowledged in an interview with Tania Costa that in the Democratic primary on August 18, he is competing against another candidate with full rights to run, but he insisted that this is not the decisive factor: "That person has every right to run. The difference is that I can win."
Rodríguez's central argument is based on four decades of presence in South Florida. "People know me in this district, trust me, know that I am an honest person, know that I am someone who understands the situation not only in Cuba, but also in Venezuela, in Nicaragua; I have traveled throughout Latin America," he stated.
The candidate traces the origin of that connection with the community back to May 1980, when he started his television career covering the Mariel exodus. "Everything that has happened in this community, the Mariel, the riots, the hurricanes, all the significant stories that have unfolded here, I have been there covering them," he stated.
In the interview, he also drew a clear line between his relationship with Cuba and that of Salazar. Rodríguez recounted that on one occasion he tried to ask Fidel Castro a question, and the dictator's bodyguards pushed him away: "I didn’t even know where the blow came from, but it was a completely different scene from the way María Elvira Salazar behaved with that dictator."
The reference alludes to the interview that Salazar conducted with Castro in 1995 for Telemundo, an episode that his opponents have repeatedly used as a political weapon.
Internal campaign polls place Rodríguez at 54% support in the Democratic primary, according to data published by Diario Las Américas, with 64% among Cuban-American voters. His main rival is Robin Peguero, a former homicide prosecutor and Harvard graduate, who has raised over $820,000 and has the support of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
The 27th District, with a population of 74% Hispanic that includes Little Havana, Coral Gables, Kendall, and Key Biscayne, is considered one of the most competitive in South Florida. Salazar was reelected for her third term in November 2024 and has the full support of Donald Trump for 2026.
The deadline to register as a voter for the primaries is July 20, 2026, just six days from this Tuesday. At the end of the interview, Rodríguez sent a direct message to those who are still unsure: “This election is extremely important. We are fighting for the democracy of this country.”
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