Shalala to face Salazar in Florida rematch

Broadcast journalist María Elvira Salazar won the GOP primary in Florida’s 27th District to challenge first-term Rep. Donna Shalala (D) in the swing district this November.

Salazar, whom Shalala defeated in 2018, led two Republican rivals with nearly 80 percent of the vote with 49 percent of precincts reporting, according to The Associated Press.

Salazar is a popular Cuban-American television reporter and anchor who spent nearly three decades at Telemundo, interviewing Latin American leaders like former Cuban President Fidel Castro and former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. She also worked for Univision and CNN Español.

Shalala defeated Salazar by 6 points to replace retiring Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R) in 2018. The Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan election handicapper, rates this year’s race as a “likely Democratic.”

Republicans have their eyes set on flipping the seat. The National Republican Congressional Committee included Salazar on the top tier of its “Young Guns” program, which identifies candidates in competitive districts.

Shalala — who served as secretary of Health and Human Services in the Clinton administration — had already amassed $2.5 million for her reelection effort as of July 29, ahead of Salazar’s $1.8 million raised.