The Republican congresswoman María Elvira Salazar declared her victory on Tuesday in the elections for Florida's 27th Congressional District, following a close contest against Cuban-American Democrat Eliott Rodríguez.
The legislator assured that the vote count had concluded and that her victory was confirmed, although the latest official data available during the consultation still identified the results as preliminary.
“Thank you, Miami,” Salazar wrote in a post made this Tuesday on X, accompanied by a statement in Spanish in which she expressed her gratitude for the support of the voters and announced that she will continue working for the families in her district.
“Once again, the voters of Florida's District 27 have spoken. The vote recount is over and our victory has been confirmed!”, the congresswoman stated in the message.
Salazar thanked the Republicans, Democrats, and independents who voted for her, as well as the election workers in Miami-Dade who participated in the process.
He also stated that the outcome conveys a political message beyond South Florida.
"This victory sends a message that goes beyond Miami: We won because WE LISTENED", he stated.
In her statement, the legislator highlighted among the main concerns of her constituents border security, the rising cost of living, and the need for an immigration system that respects those who work.
"We can enforce our laws without losing our humanity," he stated while defending his bipartisan immigration reform proposal known as the Dignity Act.
Salazar affirmed that the outcome will allow him to continue his work in Washington for another two years: "You have renewed your trust in me. Today, I renew my commitment to you," he expressed at the end of his message.
The statement comes after one of the closest electoral contests in Salazar's political career.
According to the preliminary results published by the Florida Department of State, the Republican candidate received 124,528 votes, which is 50.22%, compared to 123,438 votes for Rodríguez, representing 49.78%.
The difference of 1,090 votes, approximately 0.44% of the total, was below the 0.5% threshold established by Florida law to trigger an automatic recount by machines.
The procedure began on Monday at the Miami-Dade Elections Department headquarters in Doral.
During the morning of this Tuesday, CBS News Miami and WSVN 7News reported that officials were continuing to process the ballots and expected to complete the recount by the end of the day.
As of the time of this inquiry, the official Florida results portal was still showing the figures prior to the recount, indicating that the contest was subject to that procedure.
Therefore, at the close of this note, Salazar's claim regarding the conclusion of the recount has not yet received independent confirmation from the official records consulted.
The process was also marked by a legal controversy. Rodríguez's campaign requested the removal of Alina García, the Miami-Dade Elections Supervisor, due to an alleged conflict of interest arising from her statements about the outcome and her relationship with Robert Fernández, Salazar's attorney.
On Monday, Federal Judge David S. Leibowitz rejected the petition and allowed García to remain a member of the Board of Scrutiny.
Although he criticized some statements from the official that anticipated a Republican victory, he deemed the arguments insufficient to order her removal from the proceedings.
Rodríguez had insisted that all valid votes must be counted before acknowledging a definitive result. His campaign argued that the recount was a guarantee of transparency established by Florida's electoral legislation.
Salazar, for her part, had already declared herself the winner on the election night of November 3, when she claimed that the voters of District 27 had renewed their trust in her.
The difference with Rodríguez turned out to be much smaller than in his previous victories: in 2022 he defeated his Democratic opponent by about 15 percentage points, and in 2024 he did so by more than 20 points.
After that day, the legislator publicly called on the Republican Party to correct its course on economy and immigration, interpreting the results as a sign of discontent among part of the electorate.
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