The Cuban-American Republican congresswoman María Elvira Salazar issued a direct warning to her party this Wednesday after declaring victory by a mere 1,116 votes in Florida's District 27: the Hispanic vote took its toll on the Republicans for the deportation of undocumented workers without criminal records, and the party must correct its course.
"The Hispanic vote punished the indiscriminate deportation of Latino workers, not criminals; along with the low economy," Salazar stated in an interview with NMAS Univisión broadcasted nationwide.
The congresswoman, who had won by more than 20 percentage points in the same district in 2024, survived this time with a margin of just 0.45% —below the 0.5% threshold that triggers an automatic recount in Florida— against Cuban-American journalist Eliott Rodríguez, who did not concede defeat and called for waiting for the final count.
"Voters, not just in District 27, but across the nation, have spoken very clearly. They are telling my party, the Republican Party in power, that it is time to change course when it comes to the economy and immigration," he declared.
The result for Salazar reflects a national trend that has been devastating for the Republicans: the Democrats regained control of both chambers of Congress on Tuesday, with projections placing them around 244 seats in the House of Representatives and a net gain of at least seven seats in the Senate, with victories in Republican strongholds such as Ohio, Texas, and North Carolina.
The Hispanic vote was a decisive factor in that shift. According to NBC News, 60% of Latinos voted Democratic and 35% voted Republican, compared to the nearly even split in 2024. Data cited by The New York Times placed the Democratic advantage among Hispanics at 39 points.
Salazar, whose district has a 73.5% Hispanic population, has been warning about this risk for months. In September, she publicly criticized Trump's immigration policies stating that they had "gone too far" and that the Hispanics who supported him in 2024 "now feel betrayed." She noted that in July, the government detained about 50,000 people, of which approximately half had no criminal record.
That stance led to tensions with the White House: Trump amplified more than 14 messages on Truth Social calling for her replacement, although he ultimately supported her on October 31.
In the interview this Wednesday, Salazar defended the Dignity Law that he promotes, a temporary regularization program for immigrants without criminal records who have resided in the country for a long time. “That person who has spent 20 years working in the fields or in construction, who has American children, should be allowed to stay with something called dignity, which was the law I wrote,” he argued.
The congresswoman was emphatic in rejecting the deportations of individuals without a criminal record: "These people have been here for years, they have American children, they own property, and suddenly they are taken away without any kind of criminal record. That is unacceptable."
Salazar acknowledged that the narrow result is a signal that the party cannot ignore. "People hold you accountable, and they are right, because that is the beauty of the democratic system," he said, summarizing the message he will send to his fellow party members: "We need to win back Hispanic voters".
The first unofficial results from District 27 must be delivered before noon on November 7, the date on which it will be known whether the final margin triggers an automatic recount or not.
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