María Elvira Salazar edges Eliott Rodríguez for a fourth term as Carlos Giménez is also re-elected

November 4, 2026

Republican Rep. María Elvira Salazar kept her seat in Florida's 27th Congressional District on Tuesday, November 3, in the closest race of her political career. With all 230 precincts in, Salazar had 50.27% of the vote to 49.73% for Democrat Eliott Rodríguez, the former CBS Miami anchor, according to preliminary Miami-Dade results reported by Florida Politics and the Miami Herald.

The 0.54-point margin landed just above the 0.5% line that triggers an automatic recount in Florida. Around 9 p.m., Rodríguez told supporters in South Miami the race was "too close to call" and that he would wait for every vote to be counted. An hour later, Salazar declared victory before her own crowd on Key Biscayne. "We prevailed against all odds," she said. Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections Alina García said Salazar appeared to be the winner with or without a recount, though provisional ballots and mail ballots awaiting cure affidavits still had to be reviewed.

Both candidates are former TV journalists with Cuban roots, and immigration was at the center of the campaign. The majority-Hispanic district covers Coral Gables, Key Biscayne, Cutler Bay, Pinecrest, South Miami and West Miami. In 2024, Salazar won the same seat by about 21 points.

In the neighboring 28th District, Havana-born Republican Carlos Giménez, a former Miami-Dade mayor, won a fourth term with roughly 53% of the vote to about 46% for Democrat Phil Ehr in a rematch of their 2024 race. No-party candidate Eddy Rojas took around 1.5%.