It’s a Tuesday night in Coconut Grove. Business owner and political newcomer Richard Lamondin is standing before nearly 50 people gathered at St. James Baptist Church. He’s trying to sell them on electing him to Congress.
He’s a long shot, to be sure.
The Miami native and co-founder of an environmental services company is running for the Democratic nomination to challenge incumbent U.S. Rep María Elvira Salazar. Democrats identify her as a target in the November 2026 midterm election.
The non-partisan Cook Political Report says it’s a “solid Republican” seat, meaning it’s not competitive.
Lamondin must first win the August 2026 Democratic primary. He faces two other challengers, Alexander Fornino and Robin Peguero. Former Key Biscayne Mayor Mike Davey recently dropped out of the race.
On this night, Lamondin tells the crowd he is “seeking to change the Democratic party… by showing a model of how we win here.”
READ MORE: Former Jan. 6 committee lawyer enters race to challenge Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar
The 27th congressional district includes parts of the cities of Miami, Coral Gables and parts of west Miami.
Lamondin outlined his plan in both English and Spanish for roughly an hour in a campaign-billed town hall that includes signs asking, “Where’s Salazar” and “¿Donde Esta Salazar?”
He's branding himself as a political outsider and says he's going into “spaces that Democrats don’t go” in the congressional district to deliver his message.
“I think the fact that I have built a business in Miami, that I have lived the Miami success story, that I’m raising my family here… is something that a lot of voters will respond to,” Lamondin told WLRN. “And the fact that I’m here to find practical solutions to our many problems.”
A key campaign topic for Lamondin is his push to further support vocational jobs, which he says are “an important pathway to [the] middle-class” that also address Miami’s vulnerabilities.
“We sit on the front lines of a lot of this country’s challenges,” Lamondin said. “You talk about hurricane resilience. The only way you’re gonna fix your house after a hurricane is with a roofer, electrician, a plumber. These are the types of jobs that also are not under threat by artificial intelligence.”
No matter his campaign message, Lamondin — like any Democrat — faces an uphill challenge to unseat a popular incumbent in Salazar in a district where registered Republican voters outnumber Democratic voters by roughly 30,000.
In 2024, Salazar won by roughly 21 points against former Miami-Dade school board member Lucia Baez-Geller. Salazar was first elected as a newcomer herself in 2020, defeating incumbent Democrat Donna Shalala.
Her election win coincided with President Donald Trump's victory in Miami-Dade County. Trump was the first Republican to win the heavily Hispanic county since 1988.
When asked about his strategy to claw back gains made by the GOP with Hispanics in Miami-Dade , Lamondin said, “we are speaking to people no matter where they’re at … focusing on what unites us no matter what language you speak, which is the fact that this city is not working for us — it is too expensive, our schools are not being invested in, and right now families are struggling.”
Lamondin said he's already building a ground game by visiting areas like Westchester and west Coconut Grove, and is planning to hold events in Cutler Bay, Goulds and Richmond Heights.
He has raised over a quarter of a million dollars, according to the most recent Federal Election Commission Data.
Salazar has raised nearly half a million between her campaign and the Salazar for Congress Committee. She also reported having almost $1.7 million cash on hand.
Clarice Cooper, a registered Democrat who attended Tuesday night's event, says she was happy Lamondin chose to hold the event in west Coconut Grove.
“[Salazar] is scared of a lot of those issues," Cooper said. “Especially like in this community, which is largely African American. That is evolving of course, but she hasn’t done very much in this community.”
Learn more about Democratic candidate Richard Lamondin’s campaign here.
Learn more about incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar's campaign here.
