Miami Election: Shalala, Salazar, Polo Vie For District 27 Seat

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FL — In the 2020 election, Miami voters will choose the winner of the U.S. House of Representatives District 27 congressional race. Republican Maria Elvira Salazar, incumbent Democrat Donna Shalala and write-in candidate Frank E. Polo Sr. are vying for the role.

How to vote

As the Nov. 3 election approaches, Miami-Dade County voters can submit their ballots at early voting locations and at drop-off boxes through Sunday. They can also vote at their local voting precinct on Election Day.

If voting in person, either early or on Nov. 3, voters must bring a current and valid ID with their name, photo and signature. Find a full list of acceptable IDs here.

Vote-by-mail ballots must be received by 7 p.m. Election Day. Though it’s too late to send them using the U.S. Postal Service, they can be dropped off at any early voting location Sunday or at the Supervisor of Elections office on Tuesday. Find a list of early voting locations here. The deadline to request a vote-by-mail ballot has passed.

If you choose to vote in person on Nov. 3, you can look up your voting precinct online here. For your vote to count, you must vote in the precinct in which you reside. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day.

Meet the candidates

Miami Patch recently sent out questionnaires to learn more about who these candidates are and where they stand on local issues. Though none of the candidates submitted responses, we’ve compiled some information about them.

According to his campaign website, Frank E. Polo Sr. wrote, “Miami needs a true conservative leader backed by many years of experience in managing a private sector business, and by an education in business and law to resolve the issues concerning our communities. Miami needs someone who knows international politics. Miami needs Frank E. Polo, Sr. for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2020.”

Originally from Cuba, he escaped the country on a raft when he was 22 and was intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard. He went on to earn a degree in business administration and built an international telecommunications company from 2006 to 2013. He went on to earn a law degree from the University of St. Thomas, specializing in tax law.

He supports affordable health care for individuals with pre-existing conditions. Another key issue for him is working to recover the economy as the pandemic continues. He wants to find new ideas to bring back jobs. One way is through job creation in the trucking industry.

A supported of education and children, he wants to lower student loans and introduce bills that will prevent political indoctrination in the schools. He’s also a supporter of religious rights, affordable housing, and also denounces communism and dictatorships.

Learn more about Polo at his campaign website.

Maria Elvira Salazar is a Cuban American journalist who has worked for Univision, CNN Español, Telemundo and Mega TV. She has won five Emmy Awards for her work.

According to her campaign website, she’s “running for Congress to stop socialism from ever coming and ruining America.” She expressed concern that “freedom and the pursuit of the American Dream is at stake as leaders in Congress on the left want to implement socialism in this country.”

While the economy is “growing at record pace” and “Hispanics and African-Americans are joining the labor force in impressive numbers,” she hopes to build on this momentum. She also said she wants to rid Congress of career politicians and supports term limits.

Other issues she supports include access to affordable health care, environmental protections to combat climate change and access to improved educational opportunities.

Learn more about Salazar at her campaign website.

According to her U.S. House of Representative website, Democrat Donna Shalala describes herself “as an advocate for women’s rights, civil rights, increased access to healthcare, better education and public schools, and a clean and sustainable environment.”

Before serving District 27, she was the longest-serving secretary of Health and Human Services in U.S. history, working with Pres. Bill Clinton. After that, she was president of the University of Miami from 2001 to 2015.

According to her campaign website, if re-elected, Shalala will be “ready on day one. Miami needs someone in Washington who is ready to step up to the plate and make things happen on Day One. Donna Shalala is that person.”

Her website also said one of her biggest priorities is climate change, which she believes “is the biggest planetary challenge we face in the 21st Century, and for South Florida it is a dire existential threat. The United States must once again assume a position of leadership in an international, coordinate response to the threat posed by global warming.”

She’s also focused on building higher wage jobs and helping working families. Her website said that she “wants to build an economy that invests in people, not in tax cuts for the wealthy. Smart, strategic investments that include an education system that prepares our children for the jobs and industries of the future; investments that will allow everyone in our society to enjoy a decent minimum standard of living.”

She also wants to improve the immigration process and welcome immigrants “with fairness, dignity and compassion.” Improved health care access is another area of importance for her, as is increasing government funding of education and schools.

Learn more about Shalala at her campaign website.