Florida's 27th Congressional District race between Salazar and Rodriguez heads to recount
The closely contested race for Florida's 27th Congressional District between Republican U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar and Democratic challenger Eliott Rodriguez is headed to an automatic recount, with the candidates separated by less than half a percentage point.
According to Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections Alina Garcia, the margin stands at 0.46 percentage points, falling within Florida's 0.5 percentage-point threshold for an automatic machine recount.
Garcia said a manual recount would be required if the margin narrows to 0.25 percentage points or less.
Meanwhile, hundreds of ballots remain under review.
In a statement Friday, Garcia said 202 vote-by-mail ballots in District 27 are still undergoing the signature-curing process. Voters have until 5 p.m. Thursday to resolve any signature discrepancies so their ballots can be counted.
Provisional ballots cast during early voting and on Election Day are also being reviewed, Garcia said.
The final outcome of the race remains undecided as election officials continue reviewing outstanding ballots and prepare for the recount.
A closely watched South Florida congressional race
Florida's 27th Congressional District includes parts of the city of Miami, Coral Gables, Kendall, Key Biscayne, Pinecrest and surrounding communities.
Salazar, a former television journalist, has represented the Miami-Dade County-based district in Congress since 2021. She first won the seat in 2020 after defeating Democratic U.S. Rep. Donna Shalala.
Rodriguez, a former CBS News Miami anchor, entered politics in 2026 after a nearly five-decade career in television news. He spent 25 years at CBS News Miami before leaving the station and announcing his campaign for Congress in March.
Both candidates secured their party nominations in August. Salazar defeated attorney V. Michael Arias in the Republican primary, while Rodriguez defeated former federal prosecutor Robin Peguero for the Democratic nomination.
Immigration and affordability at center of campaign
Immigration and affordability emerged as major issues throughout the campaign, with both candidates offering different approaches to addressing concerns among South Florida voters.
Rodriguez called for increased federal funding for affordable, low-cost and workforce housing, arguing that the region's rising cost of living was making it increasingly difficult for families to remain in South Florida.
He also criticized the Trump administration's immigration policies and sought to tie Salazar to the president's agenda, arguing that immigration enforcement had created fear and economic distress in the community.
Salazar, meanwhile, supported stronger border security while pushing for changes to the nation's immigration system that would provide legal status to some undocumented immigrants who have lived in the United States for years.
During the campaign, Salazar publicly challenged President Donald Trump over some of his administration's immigration enforcement policies, saying some enforcement efforts had gone too far. Trump endorsed her reelection campaign.
Salazar, who was born in Miami to Cuban exiles, worked for Spanish-language television networks before entering politics.
The recount will help determine whether Salazar secures another term in Congress or Rodriguez flips the seat for Democrats.