Thanks to Governor DeSantis unprecedented foray into the state’s redistricting process, in 2022 Congressional candidates are running on a map that is not only a partisan gerrymander – but has cut competitive seats in the state effectively to just one. That one seat is CD-27, currently held by first term GOPer Maria Elvira Salazar.

We have a General Election cycle to get into why Rep. Salazar cannot be returned to Kevin McCarthy and Elise Stefanik’s GOP House Caucus. But first Democrats must choose a nominee to face Salazar. In this race we strongly endorse States Senator Annette Taddeo.

Taddeo is facing Miami City Commissioner Ken Russell, a political charlatan, whose duplicity is legendary locally. But the less said about him the better- despite his name recognition, he’s not a serious candidate in our eyes, so let’s focus on Taddeo.

Senator Taddeo has a long history of Democratic Party and progressive leadership at the local, state and
Federal level. She served as the Miami-Dade Democratic Party Chair from 2012 to 2014, when she revitalized the party with the goal of electing Democrats throughout the county and founded the Blue Gala, a very successful annual fundraising event that continues today. Her grassroots efforts paved the way for the successful 2014 and 2016 election cycles where Democrats over-performed in Miami-Dade relative to previous and future cycles.

From 2013 to 2016 she was an Elected DNC member and Vice Chair of the FDP, served on the Executive Committee of the DNC, was the DNC Hispanic Caucus Chair for all southeastern states and helped to lead the founding of the DNC Small Business Owners Council.

In 2017, in a huge upset with national implications, Taddeo was elected State Senator for District 40. It was the first time in Florida’s modern history (post-1968 Constitution) that a Democrat flipped a State Senate seat from the GOP in a special election, as well as the first time voters sent a Latina Democrat
to serve in the Florida Senate. She was subsequently re-elected to a full 4-year term in 2018. The Democrats had last held the seat Taddeo won in the early 1980’s.

As a State Senator Taddeo has carved out a progressive niche that’s helped give the Democrats an opposition lane to counter the extremism of the right. Her experience in business has helped give Democrats and progressives an authoritative and credible voice in the Senate on economic issues as well as Health Care and Education. Her profile as the first Latina Democratic Senator from Miami-Dade County, in addition to her aforementioned experience has also allowed her to emerge as a leader on issues of concern to Hispanics throughout the state.

All too often in the past, Florida Democrats have come up short in candidate recruitment when it comes to the most marginal of seats. We applaud the party, led by former Mayor Manny Diaz, as well as the DCCC for this first-rate recruitment in the state’s most winnable GOP-held seat.