Miami
FLORIDA María Elvira Salazar leans on Latin American backing as her Florida race tightens
The Republican congresswoman is seeking re-election in a heavily Hispanic district while her relationship with Donald Trump has frayed. In recent days, she has highlighted endorsements from Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella and Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado.
Rep. María Elvira Salazar is drawing campaign support from prominent right-wing figures in Latin America as she fights for another term in Florida and navigates a public rupture with Donald Trump.
According to NBC News, Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella praised Salazar in a Spanish-language video that she posted on X, calling her Colombia’s best friend in the U.S. Congress. NBC News reported that de la Espriella, a Colombian-American citizen who owns property in Salazar’s district, and his wife have previously donated nearly $90,000 to her.
Last week, Salazar also shared a video message from Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who described her as a steadfast ally of the cause of freedom in Venezuela, NBC News reported.
Salazar’s split with Trump deepened after she criticized parts of his immigration enforcement agenda. In a campaign ad, she warned him that some of those measures had gone too far and said some Hispanic voters who helped return him to the White House in 2024 now felt betrayed.
After that ad aired, Trump told reporters at the White House that Salazar would not have been elected without him and said she had grown soft on the border, while still saying he backed her campaign. NBC News later reported that Trump amplified Truth Social posts from other users attacking her, including one urging Republicans to replace her on the ballot.
Salazar has represented the district since 2021 and is defending a seat in a constituency where more than 74% of residents are Hispanic, according to census data cited by NBC News. A significant share of the district has ties to Colombia and Venezuela. The area has swung sharply in recent presidential elections: Trump carried it by 15 points in 2024, while Hillary Clinton won it by 20 points in 2016.
Her Democratic opponent is Eliott Rodriguez, a former CBS News Miami anchor. NBC News said a race that was not initially expected to be close has gained momentum in recent weeks. Cook Political Report shifted it in late September from Likely Republican to Lean Republican, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said it was sending more resources and adding the district to its Red to Blue program in hopes of flipping the seat.
Asked by NBC News about the endorsements from Latin American leaders, Rodriguez redirected the focus to local concerns, saying families in the district are struggling with sharply rising housing, insurance, grocery and health care costs. He argued that the election should be about the residents of Florida’s 27th District and the issues affecting their daily lives.
NBC News also reported that de la Espriella emerged as a standard-bearer of the Latin American right after his June victory and had received Trump’s backing ahead of his runoff against Colombian Sen. Iván Cepeda, whom the outlet described as an ally of former President Gustavo Petro. The political relationship runs both ways, NBC News added: before that election, Salazar and Ohio Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno, who was born in Colombia and advises Trump on Latin American policy, had endorsed de la Espriella.
Sources
About this piece. Written by El Notero with AI assistance, from reporting published by the outlet cited above. El Notero did no original reporting on this story.
