With early voting underway in Florida, there’s a congressional race that people are casting a vote for that pits someone with lots of political knowledge vs. a celebrity with none. Welcome to politics in the Trump era. The race is interesting because, in many ways, it mirrors Hillary Clinton vs Donald Trump in 2016. It’s another case of a woman with years of experience running against someone who could have very well been a contestant on Celebrity Apprentice.
It’s the race for district 27 in the Miami area. On the Democratic side is Donna Shalala. She was the Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Bill Clinton and later was the president of the University of Miami. On the Republican side is Maria Elvira Salazar, who was a TV anchor with Telemundo for three decades.
The race has been surprisingly close in a district that Hillary Clinton won by 20 points in 2016. Salazar may be helped by the fact that she is backed by the popular incumbent, who is retiring, Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. While Ros-Lehtinen has stood up to Trump, Salazar has proudly stated that she supports a lot of Trump’s policies including his work with China, North Korea, Venezuela, Cuba, the economy and immigration. Shalala’s website (and recent TV ad) plays up Salazar’s past comments on Trump stating:
Salazar claims to be a moderate, but regularly sides with Trump and his Republican enablers. Salazar’s hypocritical claims are highlighted throughout the advertisement, with screenshots from Salazar’s official Twitter account where she writes the phrase “#BravoTrump,” just as a cheerleader would.
News and Guts reached out to both Shalala and Salazar. Only Shalala responded to our questions telling us:
“Florida’s 27th Congressional District – and really, all of America – does not need another TV star in Washington. Salazar’s claim to fame is that she was on television, but how many jobs has she created? I created 5,000 during my time at the University of Miami. What does she think about Trump’s plan to take healthcare away from hundreds of thousands in our district? About separating children from their parents at the border? About addressing gun violence? It’s simple – Salazar believes whatever the Republicans and Trump tell her she needs to believe. And that’s unfortunate because this district has consistently rejected the Trump agenda.”
It’s a case of the political establishment vs. someone completely new to the political scene. Sound familiar?
While people look for “new blood” in politics, is this a case of “too new?” Two years in and the learning curve for Trump is still steep. Political experience for a job in politics is not necessarily a bad thing. Shalala goes on to say:
“District 27 deserves someone with the qualifications necessary to be their voice and get things done in Congress. I understand the needs of my community and know how to get things done. You don’t learn those things without experience.”
The Miami Herald recently cited this in their endorsement of Shalala saying of Salazar, “She is professionally accomplished, having competently covered the community’s problems, but is less clear on how to solve them as a member of Congress.”
Of course, elections are also part personality contests. The New York Times writes:
Still, Ms. Shalala has vacillated over how much to go after Ms. Salazar for her inexperience. The Democrat has argued that the race should be about each candidate’s qualifications — yet she has also acknowledged that voters will likely elect the candidate they find more personable.
“You don’t vote on policy,” Ms. Shalala said. “You vote on how people feel about you.”
The question is, will people feel good about voting for someone who lacks the credentials and experience needed to truly navigate Congress? Shalala puts it this way:
I’m a doer. She is a talker.
I have a track record of getting things done in Washington. A 10-year assault weapons ban and expanding coverage to 9 million children through the Children’s Health Insurance Plan are examples. My opponent has interviewed a lot of people, but does not have a record of accomplishment like I do.