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Salazar and Rodriguez make affordability and immigration central in District 27 race
Eliott Rodriguez is the Democratic challenger in Florida’s 27th Congressional District race against incumbent Michelle Salazar.
Updated Oct 16, 2026, 2:28 PM ET
Eliott Rodriguez, a Democrat and former television news anchor who spent 25 years at CBS News Miami, is his party's nominee against Republican U.S. Representative María Elvira Salazar in Florida's 27th congressional district in 2026.
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Recent media coverage for Eliott Rodriguez.
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Hakeem Jeffries to campaign with Eliott Rodriguez in Miami
Hakeem Jeffries, Democratic House leader, will campaign with Eliott Rodriguez in Miami for Florida’s 27th Congressional District race against Republican incumbent María Elvira Salazar.
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Maria Elvira Salazar, Eliott Rodriguez and the issues they campaign for in race for Florida's 27th District - CBS Miami
With less than three weeks until the Nov. 3 midterm elections, U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar campaigned Thursday in South Miami, where affordability and immigration were among the concerns voiced by voters.
CBS News
Salazar -
Daniella Levine Cava & Eileen Higgins Endorse Eliott Rodriguez · The Floridian
Eliott Rodriguez, the Democratic challenger in Florida’s 27th Congressional District (FL-27), has received endorsements from two Miami-Dade leaders: County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and City of Miami Mayor Eileen…
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Candidates in Florida’s District 27 discuss what they see as most important issues - CBS Miami
In the District 27 race for Florida’s U.S. House seat, Democrat Eliott Rodriguez and Republican incumbent María Elvira Salazar discuss the district’s top issues.
No story this week names this candidate.
- Birthplace
- New York
- Education
- Miami Dade College (Kendall campus)
University of Miami
Biography & Campaign Analysis
Background
Eliott Rodriguez was born in New York to parents who had immigrated from Cuba. His mother worked as a seamstress in New York's garment district, while his father owned a grocery store in the Bronx, and the family moved to Miami when he was 12. He attended the Kendall campus of Miami Dade College, where he joined the student newspaper, the Catalyst, as a cartoonist in 1974, and he later graduated from the University of Miami.
Career
Rodriguez began his professional journalism career in 1978 as a reporter for the Miami News and moved into television journalism in 1980, working as a reporter and anchor at WTVJ in Miami and WPVI-TV in Philadelphia.
He returned to Miami in 1987 to join WPLG, where he stayed until 1998, and in 1999 he joined WFOR-TV, the CBS station in Miami. Over his career he covered the Mariel boatlift, Hurricane Andrew and the Surfside condominium collapse, and in 2002 he interviewed Fidel Castro.
In October 2014 he moderated a televised Florida gubernatorial debate between Rick Scott and Charlie Crist. His honors include three Emmy Awards and four Edward R. Murrow Awards, and his final broadcast at CBS Miami was on December 19, 2025.
2026 race
Rodriguez announced in March 2026 that he would run as a Democrat for Florida's 27th congressional district, held by Republican María Elvira Salazar, who was re-elected with 60.4% of the vote in 2024.
He cited Miami's affordability crisis and the Trump administration's immigration policies as reasons for entering the race. In the Democratic primary on August 18, 2026, he defeated Robin Peguero, an attorney and former investigative counsel for the January 6 Committee, with 53.5% of the vote.
In the general election on November 3, 2026, he faces Salazar, who won the Republican primary with 81.3%.