MIAMI — Former CBS Miami journalist Eliott Rodriguez announced a run for Congress Tuesday in hopes of ousting Miami Rep. María Elvira Salazar.

Rodriguez’s campaign is leaning into his decades of experience as a local journalist, counting on his name recognition and audience trust to help propel his bid. The “o” in his name in his campaign logo is drawn similarly to the CBS icon and his campaign launch video begins with him announcing “breaking news” about his own life.

His candidacy puts more pressure on Salazar, who has been walking a tightrope on immigration — both remaining a public supporter of Donald Trump and trying to raise alarms that the president’s aggressive approach to immigration will cost him voters in the midterms. Her seat is being targeted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

If Rodriguez wins the Democratic primary, the election would likely pit TV anchor versus TV anchor. Salazar hosted a Spanish-language news show on Mega TV and worked at Telemundo, Univision and CNN before being sworn into Congress five years ago.

But to face off against Salazar, Rodriguez first needs to convince Democratic primary voters of his own bona fides ahead of the August primary.

As a longtime nonpartisan figure in the community, Rodriguez said some people have been surprised to learn he’s been a registered Democratic for years. His father, a Cuban immigrant, was also a Democrat.

“All the years that I worked, I never announced my political affiliation. I hate labels and I get along with people of all parties, but I would put myself in the center. I’m a moderate Democrat,” Rodriguez told the Miami Herald in an interview. He pointed to former Florida Gov. Bob Graham as the politician he most admires.

“We have a lot of independents who are looking for somebody to support. I want to be that person,” he added. “But I am a solid blue Democrat, you can be sure of that.”

Rodriguez has called Florida’s 27th district home since 1968, according to his campaign. As it is currently drawn, the district includes Coral Gables, South Miami, Kendall, Palmetto Bay and Key Biscayne.

Former prosecutor Robin Peguero, business owner Richard Lamondin and former GOP donor and convicted felon Lev Parnas have also announced bids for the Democratic nomination.

On the issues

Rodriguez said the issues that pushed him into the race include immigration, “the trampling of our laws, our Constitution, due process and the economic crisis.”

On immigration, Rodriguez said: “Violent criminals definitely should be deported. No doubt about that. Nobody wants open borders or that nonsense. But immigration reform is way overdue.”

When asked by the Herald how that differs from Salazar — who has also criticized Trump’s mass deportation agenda and is pushing a bill that would increase the availability of work visas for immigrants — Rodriguez said he wants to see immigration reform that includes pathways to citizenship.

“People are here because they eventually want to become U.S. citizens, as my parents did,” Rodriguez said. Salazar’s Dignity Act “doesn’t have a chance to pass and it does not result in dignity for millions of immigrants who are here, working hard, contributing, and should be offered a path to citizenship,” Rodriguez said.

In one of his first forays into partisan messaging in January, Rodriguez recorded a statement for a political group targeting South Florida’s three Republican members of Congress on immigration.

On Cuba, Rodriguez was open-minded about the Trump’s administration’s negotiations with the country. If the Trump administration manages to “remove that regime, nobody would be happier than me,” he said.

He described Trump’s approach — including the State Department’s talks with Raul Castro’s grandson and negotiations about lifting sanctions — as more similar to Democrats’ tactics historically than Republican ones. “If they can remove that regime, I don’t care who does it,” he said.

He said he doesn’t expect political winds moving in Salazar’s favor if there’s regime change in Cuba, however. What happens in Cuba won’t fix the affordability problems at home, according to Rodriguez.

“While I will feel very happy in my heart that that regime is ousted in Cuba, the people of District 27 are still facing the same challenges that they faced before,” Rodriguez said. “But I will celebrate with my pots and pans on Calle Ocho if they do remove Raul Castro or Miguel Díaz-Canel.”

When it comes to affordability, Rodriguez said his plans include making it easier to build affordable housing units, fighting against tariffs he said are raising construction costs and extending healthcare subsidies.

The district had the highest number of Obamacare enrollees last year who saw their premiums skyrocket after the Republican-controlled Congress failed to extend covid-era subsidies.

Rodriguez said his own young-adult kids have been forced out of Miami because of the cost of living.

He said he wasn’t planning on going to Congress to try to fix that problem when he left CBS Miami late last year. But he said the political moment compelled him out of a brief retirement.

“It wasn’t my bingo card, but if I don’t do it, I may hate myself later,” he said. “I don’t think it’s a time to sit around the sidelines. If you have a voice, now’s the time to speak out.”

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