The race for Florida’s 27th Congressional District flared up over the weekend when President Donald Trump reposted on his Truth Social account more than a dozen posts excoriating incumbent Miami Republican Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar.
The posts included demands for Republicans to replace her in the Nov. 3 ballot and comes barely a week after the president reaffirmed his support for her re-election to Congress.
The rift between the Cuban-American lawmaker and Trump first erupted Sept. 16 when she released a campaign ad filmed outside the White House. In the ad, she slammed Trump’s immigration crackdown as having "gone too far" and warned that Hispanic voters who previously supported the president felt betrayed by his deportation policies.
READ MORE: Report: GOP US Rep. Salazar still holds advantage, but race is tightening with Democrat Rodriguez
In response to the public fallout between the former president and the incumbent congresswoman, Eliott Rodriguez — the Democratic nominee challenging Salazar — issued a statement condemning her legislative record and political positioning.
“We’re seeing Republican candidates across the country distancing themselves from Donald Trump, but María Elvira Salazar has become so politically toxic that now even Daddy Trump appears to be distancing himself from his problem child," Rodriguez said.
"Maybe he finally sees what FL-27 voters already figured out: she can't be trusted, she stands for nothing, she’s going to lose, and he doesn’t want to take the blame for it."
Rodriguez called Salazar’s campaign ad a “desperate political stunt to save her seat.”
Salazar, who is seeking her fourth two-year term in Congress, finds herself in a much tighter race than expected against Rodriguez, a former CBS4 anchorman who is also a Cuban-American.
The non-partisan Cook Political Report on Friday shifted the seat from "likely Republican” to “leans Republican,” meaning is viewed as competitive.
Cook Political Report is among several national election prognosticators who are now predicting a much closer race. Only a few months ago, it was considered a "safe Republican" seat.
The analysts at the Cook Political Report wrote that recent polls and a "backlash among Hispanic voters toward the Trump administration has forced her to play defense" led them to shift their rating of the race.
The 27th congressional district includes Miami, Coral Gables, Palmetto Bay and Cutler Bay. Almost three in four residents are Latino.
Trump soundly defeated Democrat Kamala Harris in 2024 by 15 points, 57%-43%, in the district.
