Eliott Rodriguez enters CD 27 race with big lead over Primary foes

New internal polling shows veteran journalist Eliott Rodriguez opening a wide lead in the Democratic Primary for Florida’s 27th Congressional District.

A survey of likely Primary voters in the Miami-Dade County district found Rodriguez with 43% support, far outpacing his rivals as the contest begins to take shape.

The poll, conducted by Miami-based Bendixen & Amandi International, which is managing Rodriguez’s campaign, shows him with a more than twofold lead over candidate Robin Peguero, a former federal prosecutor who registered 16% support.

Entrepreneur Richard Lamondin, who led the Democratic field in fundraising through Dec. 31, has 14% support, pollsters found.

The rest — 27% of voters — remain undecided.

“With a 27-point lead in the Democratic Primary, Eliott Rodriguez is emerging as the clear front-runner as voters coalesce around the candidate best positioned to win and defeat MAGA Republican María Elvira Salazar in November,” campaign spokesperson Fernand Amandi said.

Rodriguez, a longtime South Florida television journalist and former CBS News Miami anchor, entered the CD 27 race Tuesday with a platform focused on addressing rising living costs in the region.

His campaign priorities include expanding workforce housing, stabilizing insurance rates, protecting Social Security and Medicare, supporting small businesses and promoting greater accountability in government.

Rodriguez also opposes President Donald Trump’s tariffs and the administration’s hardline immigration policy.

CPA Alex Fornino is also running, according to Federal Election Commission records, though his fourth-quarter gains came in at just $250. The Bendixen & Amandi poll did not include Fornino, whose campaign website is no longer active.

CD 27, one of three Florida districts that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has highlighted as “in play,” covers Miami, Coral Gables, Cutler Bay, Key Biscayne, Pinecrest, North Bay Village, South Miami, West Miami and several unincorporated areas.

Salazar has represented the district since 2020, when she supplanted Democrat Donna Shalala.

Poll results Peguero’s team shared this week from New York-headquartered Blueprint Polling showed Rodriguez and Peguero both posing serious threats to Salazar’s incumbency, with them taking 46% and 47% shares of the vote against her, respectively, in theoretical head-to-head General Election matchups.

Lamondin was not included in Peguero’s poll.

But internal polling Lamondin’s campaign conducted the same month he launched his campaign — before Peguero or Rodriguez entered the race — showed him within striking distance of Salazar, with 43% support for him compared to 46% for her.

The Primary is Aug. 18; the General Election is Nov. 3.