Florida’s 27th Congressional District House Race

Rep. María Elvira Salazar, a Miami Republican, is facing pushback after releasing a campaign ad filmed outside the White House urging President Trump to soften immigration enforcement, warning his policies are hurting the GOP's standing with Latino voters. Many voters in her heavily Hispanic, majority-immigrant district say their support for Trump remains firm even as their confidence in Salazar has slipped, with some accusing her of political self-preservation and poor timing rather than genuine conviction.

Salazar faces Democratic challenger Eliott Rodriguez, a fellow former TV anchor, in a district Trump won by nearly 15 points in 2024 but which analysts now describe as competitive. Trump publicly criticized Salazar's ad but stopped short of harsher attacks he's aimed at other GOP critics; Salazar later said she had a "fantastic" follow-up conversation with him. The district has been heavily affected by immigration enforcement, with many Venezuelan, Haitian, Cuban and Nicaraguan residents losing humanitarian parole and TPS protections. The Cook Political Report still rates the race "likely Republican," though Democrats point to a fundraising surge for Rodriguez.

Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) released a new campaign ad, filmed in D.C. and running in South Florida, accusing President Trump of going "too far" with immigration enforcement, warning that Hispanic voters who helped elect him in 2024 now "feel betrayed." Citing ICE data showing half of detainees had no criminal convictions or pending charges, she urged Trump to "be careful" about his advisers' guidance and compared his potential legacy to Lincoln's on slavery and Reagan's on communism. Salazar said she does not seek amnesty but a "dignified life" for immigrants, tying her message to her bipartisan Dignity Act (also called the DIGNIDAD Act), which would offer legal status to long-term undocumented immigrants without criminal records, updated with Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) in July. The ad comes just seven weeks before her reelection contest in a Miami-Dade district Democrats hope to flip.

The rare intra-party rebuke comes amid GOP anxiety that aggressive enforcement, including a troubled Minneapolis surge tied to two deaths, could erode Republican gains with Hispanic voters ahead of the midterms. Salazar's district, roughly 74% Hispanic, swung sharply toward Trump in 2024, helping him flip Miami-Dade County red for the first time since the 1980s, after leaning far narrower in 2020, but polling now shows Latino support swinging back toward Democrats nationally. She faces Democrat Elliot Rodriguez, a fellow Cuban-American and former TV anchor, who dismissed her ad as political opportunism; the race has reportedly tightened. Trump has shown no sign of softening his enforcement approach despite the warning.

Miami Republican Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar released a campaign ad criticizing President Trump's immigration enforcement, saying some efforts "have gone too far" and warning him to be wary of his advisers' counsel. The ad, filmed in Washington, cites ICE data claiming half of detainees have no criminal convictions or pending charges, pushing back on the administration's "worst of the worst" messaging. It comes seven weeks before Salazar faces re-election in Florida's 27th District, a Miami-Dade seat that is roughly 74% Hispanic and that Trump won with 57% of the vote in 2024, and which Democrats hope to flip.

Trump has repeatedly endorsed Salazar's re-election. Her Democratic challenger, former news anchor Elliot Rodriguez, called the ad political opportunism, noting her prior votes to fund ICE. Salazar has long pushed a bipartisan immigration overhaul, the Dignity Act, which has drawn little Republican support and accusations of amnesty advocacy. The ad's digital targeting reportedly excludes several coastal zip codes that favored Kamala Harris in 2024.

Miami Herald readers this week raised concerns over Miami-Dade's "Better Bus Network" overhaul, which eliminated most bus routes serving North Miami, North Miami Beach, Biscayne Park and the Omni area, leaving only Route 9 in place. Residents say they now face walks of up to a mile to reach transit, even as roughly 1,000 new apartment units are under construction nearby, raising questions about how car-less residents will reach jobs, groceries and medical care.

The same letters section also featured reader reactions on unrelated topics, including a call for Congress to pass the Recycled Materials Attribution Act to standardize recycling claims as Miami-Dade landfills near capacity, criticism of federal deportation policy and immigration enforcement funding, debate over the definition of socialism, reactions to Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar's Vatican visit, praise for the Miami Herald's Epstein investigation coverage, and a proposal for genetic eligibility testing in women's professional basketball.

Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL) publicly broke with President Donald Trump on immigration policy, saying in a new advertisement that some enforcement efforts have "gone too far." Salazar represents a heavily Hispanic South Florida district including Miami and has been an outspoken critic of mass deportations, having championed a bipartisan immigration reform bill this Congress.

The break signals ongoing friction within the Republican Party over immigration enforcement tactics as the 2026 midterm elections approach. Salazar's district includes many immigrant and Hispanic voters who could be affected by aggressive deportation policies, making her stance politically significant heading into her reelection campaign. Her comments highlight a broader divide among Republicans representing diverse, immigrant-heavy districts versus the administration's hardline enforcement approach, a tension likely to influence legislative debates and electoral dynamics in competitive House races.

Leroy Griffith, the Miami businessman known for decades as South Florida's "adult theater king," died peacefully at his Miami home on Oct. 3 at age 94, his family said. Born in 1932 in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, Griffith entered show business as a teenager selling candy at St. Louis burlesque shows and later managed theaters across the Midwest before settling in Miami in the early 1960s. He built a chain of burlesque and X-rated film venues across Florida and beyond, best known for Club Madonna in Miami Beach and the Pussycat Theater in Miami.

His career was marked by repeated clashes with regulators and police, including efforts to circumvent nudity and liquor ordinances, dozens of police raids, and a 2013 incident involving a trafficked minor performing at Club Madonna, for which Griffith was never charged. He famously bought back his own foreclosed theater at a courthouse auction. Griffith outlasted 17 Miami Beach mayors and 16 city managers during his decades-long run. He is survived by his wife, four children, and several grandchildren.

Rep. María Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., is facing a tightening re-election race in her heavily Hispanic Miami-area district and has picked up an endorsement from Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella, a Trump ally who called her "Colombia's best friend in U.S. Congress." De la Espriella and his wife have previously donated nearly $90,000 to Salazar's campaigns. The endorsement follows Salazar's public break with President Trump last month over immigration enforcement, which she said had "gone too far," drawing Trump's public criticism and social media attacks. She also recently received an endorsement from Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado.

Salazar's district is more than 74% Hispanic and has swung sharply between parties in past presidential elections. She faces Democrat Eliott Rodriguez, a former television anchor, in a race that forecasters have shifted toward Democrats and that national Democratic campaign groups are now targeting for a potential flip. Rodriguez has focused his campaign on local economic concerns rather than foreign endorsements.

Alex Alvarado, a GOP operative implicated in Florida's 2020 "ghost candidate" scheme, is now sending text messages suggesting Democratic attorney general candidate Jose Javier Rodríguez won't "defend reproductive freedom." The texts, funded through a newly registered committee called Lower Our Costs Now, cite a 2015 abortion bill vote Rodríguez missed on the floor but later recorded a "no" vote on afterward. Rodríguez's campaign calls the ads misleading and notes his Planned Parenthood endorsement. Alvarado, an early donor to incumbent Attorney General James Uthmeier, was previously tied to 2020 efforts—some resulting in convictions—to siphon votes from Democrats using decoy independent candidates, including a scheme that helped defeat Rodríguez's state Senate bid.

A Florida appeals court sharply criticized a Tallahassee grand jury's report on the Hope Florida charity, ordering it expunged and finding that jurors improperly accused individuals of criminal conduct while violating confidentiality rules. Gov. Ron DeSantis responded by calling for prosecutions of whoever leaked the report, while Democrats continue pressing for investigations into his administration. The ruling has elevated Hope Florida as a campaign issue ahead of next month's election, with gubernatorial candidates Byron Donalds (R) and David Jolly (D) both campaigning amid Hurricane Isaias recovery efforts that have left thousands without power.

Separately, Florida's attorney general race is drawing national attention after Democratic candidate José Javier Rodríguez received a $5 million injection from a national party group, the largest such donation to a statewide Florida candidate this cycle, aimed at unseating appointed Republican AG James Uthmeier. Uthmeier is also pushing for added restrictions on Meta after rejecting a multi-state settlement. Meanwhile, documents tied to a 2021 "ghost candidate" scandal are resurfacing in Florida Power & Light's merger talks with Dominion Energy.

Florida Democratic Senate nominee Angie Nixon drew a sharp rebuke from the Department of Homeland Security after saying Republicans were "literally trying to kill" black Americans and calling ICE a "weaponized paramilitary force" designed to terrorize people. Nixon made the remarks on a podcast this month, days before winning her primary, citing a September 2025 ICE operation in Chicago's South Shore neighborhood that targeted suspected Tren de Aragua members and resulted in roughly two dozen detentions.

DHS called the racial-profiling allegations "categorically FALSE," saying immigration status—not race—drives enforcement, and cited a sharp rise in reported assaults, vehicular attacks, and death threats against agents. The Republican National Committee argued Nixon's comments would help GOP candidates nationally. Nixon, a Democratic Socialists of America member, defeated former National Security Council official Alexander Vindman by 12 points in a lopsided primary upset despite being vastly outspent and lacking backing from Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, or the DSA, winning most major metro areas including Miami-Dade and Broward. Since winning, she has distanced herself from the socialist label despite her DSA membership, denying she supports abolishing police funding or open borders. She now faces Republican Sen. Ashley Moody in November for the remainder of Marco Rubio's former Senate term, in a race forecasters favor for the GOP.