Maria Elvira Salazar wins reelection in Florida's District 27 after recount

Republican U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar has secured a fourth term in Congress after a machine recount confirmed her narrow victory over Democratic challenger Eliott Rodriguez in Florida's 27th Congressional District.

The recount, completed Tuesday, November 10, showed Salazar receiving 124,519 votes, or 50.22%, compared with Rodriguez's 123,433 votes, or 49.78%, giving the incumbent a winning margin of just 1,086 votes.

The Associated Press and CBS News projected Salazar as the winner following the recount, bringing an end to one of South Florida's closest congressional contests in the November 3 midterm elections.

The recount was automatically triggered under Florida law after the margin between the candidates fell below 0.5 percentage points.

Salazar had initially declared victory on election night, when she led Rodriguez by approximately 1,325 votes. However, as additional ballots were counted, her lead narrowed, prompting state officials to order a machine recount.

The recount began Monday at Miami-Dade County's elections headquarters in Doral, with election workers reviewing ballots cast on Election Day, by mail and during early voting.

The process also followed a legal challenge from Rodriguez, who sought to prevent Miami-Dade County Supervisor of Elections Alina Garcia from participating in the recount.

Rodriguez's legal team argued that Garcia had demonstrated bias after telling the Miami Herald on election night that Salazar had won the race "with or without a recount."

Garcia subsequently acknowledged that a Rodriguez victory remained possible, although she considered it unlikely.

U.S. District Judge David Leibowitz rejected Rodriguez's emergency request to remove Garcia from the canvassing board, allowing the recount to proceed.

While the judge criticized Garcia's premature comments, he determined that they did not provide sufficient grounds to remove the elected official from the process.

Salazar, a former television journalist, has represented the Miami-Dade County-based district since January 2021, when she took office after defeating Democratic incumbent Donna Shalala in the 2020 election.

She subsequently won reelection in 2022 and 2024 by considerably wider margins, making this year's contest her closest race since entering Congress.

Rodriguez, also a former television journalist, spent nearly five decades working in broadcast news, including 25 years at CBS Miami, before entering politics.

He launched his congressional campaign in March 2026 and secured the Democratic nomination in August.

During the campaign, Rodriguez focused on housing affordability, immigration, protecting Medicare and Social Security, and addressing the rising cost of living in South Florida.

Salazar emphasized her congressional record, including federal funding secured for community projects and her bipartisan Dignity Act, which proposes changes to immigration enforcement and a pathway to renewable legal status for certain undocumented immigrants.

Immigration emerged as a significant issue in the race, particularly in the heavily Hispanic district.

In a September campaign advertisement, Salazar criticized aspects of President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement policies, arguing that the administration's approach had gone too far.

The 27th Congressional District includes Coral Gables, Cutler Bay, Key Biscayne, Palmetto Bay, Pinecrest, South Miami, West Miami and portions of the city of Miami.

The closely contested race came amid broader Democratic gains in Miami-Dade County during the 2026 midterm elections, with several races reflecting shifts in voter support compared with previous election cycles.

Despite the narrow margin, Salazar's victory allows Republicans to retain the District 27 seat as she prepares to begin her fourth term in the U.S. House of Representatives in January 2027.