Elvira Salazar Faces Challenger in Janelle Perez

The upcoming congressional race for Florida’s House District 27 will be a closely watched race. In 2020, Florida Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R) defeated Rep. Donna Shalala (D), but a recent voting record has left political pundits wondering if conservatives won’t support her in the upcoming election. With Shalala considering another run and Democrats worrying about a “poor recruitment drive” regarding congressional races, Janelle Perez (D) is poised to brave odds in the hopes of winning in 2022.

Last week, Chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and New York Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D) took part in a closed-door lunch. In it, Tim Persico, the Executive Director of the DCCC shared that, should the midterms be held right now, Democrats would face a loss.

A new poll indicated that Democrats are falling behind Republicans by an estimated half-dozen points in a generic ballot in battleground districts.

Persico commented that Democrats “are not afraid of this data,” and that they are “not trying to hide this.”

Florida’s 27^th Congressional District is considered one of many “ultra-competitve seats,” and Ben Pollara, a Democratic consultant based in Miami, shared frustration over the lack of recruitment that Democrats have had in South Florida.

“Without question it is definitely frustrating,” Pollara commented, adding that “these are going to be ultra-competitive seats that you will need to raise a lot of money for.”

This week, Janelle Perez, a co-owner  of a Medicare managed care company, announced that she would be challenging Elvira Salazar for the seat.

In a statement, Perez expressed that “the way the political climate and direction the Republican Party is going in is not a future I want to give to my daughter.”

In response, Camille Gallo (R), the Spokeswoman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, wished Janelle “Good luck,” noting that Perez “has the impossible task of defending Democrats’ radical agenda that includes embracing socialism, defunding the police and backing spending sprees that are causing prices to skyrocket.”