Democrat · Florida's 27th District · 2026
Eliott Rodriguez
Rodriguez was born in the Bronx to a seamstress mother and grocery store owner father, both from Cuba.
Biography
Eliott Rodriguez's December 2025 CBS farewell celebrated six daughters, six grandchildren and plans for more tennis.1 He was born in New York to Cuban immigrant parents: a seamstress working in the garment district and a father who owned a Bronx grocery store.2 His family moved to Miami when he was twelve, and he attended Shenandoah Junior High.2
His earlier jobs included Publix and McDonald's, before he earned his bachelor's degree in journalism at the University of Miami.3 His broadcasting career included twenty five years at CBS News Miami, reporting on South Florida's communities and local issues.3
Rodriguez has described his own family's experience with housing costs: a daughter and her husband moved to North Carolina after finding local homeownership unaffordable.2 His campaign emphasizes reducing living costs, protecting Social Security and Medicare, and investing in education.3
He supports restoring enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies, opposes the Trump administration's tariff approach, and wants closer oversight of Immigration and Customs Enforcement's budget and substantial changes to its operations.2 He also criticizes Salazar's Dignity Act proposal and argues that immigration reform should go further in providing a citizenship path.2 He is the Democratic nominee against Republican Representative María Elvira Salazar in Florida's 27th Congressional District.4