The Case Against María Elvira Salazar

"Voters in South Miami already know that María Elvira Salazar has been lying to them. Salazar isn't fighting for them in Congress like she claims, she's blindly pushing an extreme and dangerous MAGA agenda that restricts abortion access and threatens our democracy. That's why Floridians will elect a true champion for their freedoms in Lucia Báez-Geller this November," said DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene.

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To: Interested Parties
From: Lauryn Fanguen
Date: August 20, 2024
Subject: The Case Against María Elvira Salazar

María Elvira Salazar is a shameless politician doing one thing in Washington and saying another in South Miami. Salazar is actively voting against her constituents' best interests at every opportunity, but then goes home and repeatedly lies about it, taking credit for benefits she opposed. If Salazar had it her way, tens of millions of dollars strengthening the region's economy would have never reached South Miami. While Salazar is eager to vote against funding for her community, she has repeatedly voted to allow states to ban abortion. Now, Floridians are struggling through a near-total abortion ban that Salazar supported allowing to be enforced. They don't need any more of her MAGA extremism and betrayal of democratic values making things worse.

Instead, voters have a clear choice in Lucia Báez-Geller.

Lucia Báez-Geller is the daughter of Cuban and Colombian immigrants who fled communism in search of the American Dream. As the first in her family to go to college, Lucia has seen firsthand how access to education can change lives. Lucia's upbringing inspired her to become a public servant and help other kids achieve the American Dream. A lifelong Floridian, she spent 15 years as a Miami public school teacher, was recognized by the National Education Association and awarded their Political Advocate of the Year Award for her work, and now serves as a Miami-Dade County School Board Member.

Unlike Salazar, Báez-Geller understands that a woman's health care decisions should be between her and her doctor - not politicians in Tallahassee or Washington. Her personal reproductive health care experience drives her passion to protect abortion rights from far-right, overreaching politicians determined to keep limiting women's freedoms. In Congress, Báez-Geller will defend reproductive freedom and work across the aisle to ensure our children have the economic opportunities to succeed.

María Elvira Salazar has failed South Miami, and once voters see her disastrous track record side-by-side with Lucia Báez-Geller's commitment to their community and vision for the future, there's no question that they will kick Salazar out of office.

The "Poster Child" of Taking Credit for Things She Voted Against

South Miami voters should be wary of sharing their accomplishments and successes around María Elvira Salazar - she might try to take credit for them. As Facing South Florida's Jim DeFede exposed in a now viral interview, Salazar has been voting against legislation in Congress then going back in district and shamelessly taking credit for the funding she voted against. DeFede called Salazar out for voting against the CHIPS and Science Act, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, but celebrating, often with enormous fake checks, the new local projects they're funding. According to the Miami Herald, after the painful exchange "Salazar became the national poster-child for misleading Republicans."

National media also took notice with political commentators, news anchors, and reporters calling Salazar a "liar and phony," "hypocrite," and "if 'see what had happened was' was a person." After countless scathing articles, Salazar decided to run the failed playbook again, the next time taking credit for funding for a children's hospital that she voted against. Salazar may not have been embarrassed by her actions, but South Floridians were certainly embarrassed by their representative. By her own admission, Salazar hasn't done anything to help the average American.

In contrast, Lucia Báez-Geller is a proven leader with a track record of delivering results. She's a School Board Member who has successfully balanced multi-billion dollar budgets. Báez-Geller has focused on improving student's mental health, increasing family involvement, and helping teacher recruitment and retention.

María Elvira Salazar is Yet Another Anti-Abortion Extremist

When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, paving the way for the near-total abortion ban women and families in Florida are currently forced to live under, María Elvira Salazar celebrated. She supports letting Florida and other states impose harsh abortion bans, even if they apply before most women know that they're pregnant. In true Salazar fashion, when asked about her vote to allow states to ban abortion, she acted like she couldn't remember. She also voted to allow states to criminalize women who traveled across state lines to receive abortion care. It's no surprise she has an A+ rating from the extreme anti-abortion group SBA Pro-Life America, which "exists to end abortion" in America.

Salazar's dangerous record of voting against abortion rights in Congress has only gotten longer: She voted to restrict access to safe abortion medication nationwide and to take away resources for active duty servicemembers seeking reproductive care.

This is a stark contrast to Lucia Báez-Geller, who bravely shared her personal reproductive health care story in a moving and powerful op-ed in the Miami Herald after Florida enacted its draconian abortion ban. Báez-Geller explained that due to complications during a very-much wanted pregnancy, she and her husband made the difficult decision to medically induce a miscarriage instead of risking a potentially dangerous natural miscarriage. However, under the current Florida abortion ban enacted just one year after Báez-Geller had this experience, Báez-Geller would have had to travel out of state, leaving behind her one-year-old daughter, to receive the same care.

Protecting abortion rights and reproductive health care at large is personal for Báez-Geller, and she's running to be the voice and advocate for Florida women that María Elvira Salazar has failed to be. As the New York Times notes, in Florida "the issue will play a defining role in the November elections."

María Elvira Salazar is Pro-MAGA and Anti-Democracy

María Elvira Salazar is loyal to Donald Trump at all costs. She rushed to endorse Trump for President well before the wave of her fellow vulnerable Republicans who endorsed him this spring. She even attended Trump's criminal trial in New York to show fealty. When an independent jury of his peers found Trump guilty of 34 felonies, Salazar took to social media claiming that the justice system was politicized and calling it an "injustice." Salazar is fully bought in on Donald Trump and is a proud MAGA enthusiast who will ride that wave wherever it takes her - even when it's standing against democratic values. Unfortunately for her constituents, Trump isn't the only authoritarian Salazar has spent her time in office getting close to.

The Miami Herald took María Elvira Salazar to task for cozying up to the self-proclaimed "world's coolest dictator," El Salvadorian President Nayib Bukele. The Herald notes that Salazar should know better than to congratulate Bukele given the "clear signs of [him being] an autocrat consolidating power." Adding insult to injury, Salazar tweeted, "We need a Bukele in Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua." El País also explains that "Salazar's recurring appeal to import the methods used by Nayib Bukele to deal with organized crime seeks to capitalize on the popularity of the Salvadoran president's authoritarian - and allegedly human rights-violating - strategies among the Latin American right." Salazar claims to stand against the enemies of democracy in Latin America, but when those enemies come from the right wing, she is only too eager to stand aside.

Even her rhetoric on Cuba rings hollow. Let's not forget that Salazar accepted campaign donations from Manuel Rocha, who pleaded guilty to spying on the U.S. government on behalf of communist Cuba in federal court, and Salazar only said she'd return the contributions after public scrutiny. In a district where voters especially need to see their representatives stand up to extremists who threaten democracy, Salazar's deference to dictators and wanna-be dictators is unwelcome.

Lucia Báez-Geller's father came to the United States fleeing communism in Cuba in the 1980's. She understands the horrors of totalitarianism and values American democracy. Unlike Salazar, Báez-Geller will never put a political party over country.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

Miami Herald: The lies about her voting record have finally caught up with Congresswoman Salazar | Opinion [Miami Herald, 01/30/24]

HuffPost: 'I Cannot Really Remember': GOP Rep. Busted For Taking Credit For Bills She Voted Against [HuffPost, 01/29/24]

WLRN Public Media: Rep. María Elvira Salazar to return campaign cash from suspected Cuba spy [WLRN Public Media, 12/06/23]

The New York Times: Florida Court Rulings Pose Risks for House Republicans on Abortion [New York Times, 04/04/24]

Miami Herald: Rumored Trump VP hopeful Salazar should know better than to support self-acclaimed dictator | Opinion [Miami Herald, 06/05/24]

CBS News Miami: Miami-Dade school board member explains why abortion rights are important, shares her story [CBS News Miami, 04/28/24]

Miami Herald: I made the tough choice to end a pregnancy. Florida abortion ban robs women of that right | Opinion [Miami Herald, 04/22/24]

PATH TO VICTORY

Lucia Báez-Geller has already been elected to serve parts of this district as a School Board Member. With a built-in base, Báez-Geller starts at an advantage in comparison to many challenger candidates. Abortion being on the ballot statewide in November also highlights the key contrast between anti-choice extremist María Elvira Salazar and reproductive rights champion Lucia Báez-Geller. This is a Biden 49.8% district, and recent polling shows Kamala Harris carrying Miami-Dade County by 14 points.

Lucia Báez-Geller understands voters in this district want an independent voice who will fight for them, not an extreme party loyalist like María Elvira Salazar who constantly threatens their freedoms and economic opportunities and then lies to their face about it. When presented with the facts, voters in South Miami have a clear choice. They will choose to protect their freedoms and democracy and reject Salazar's radical, unpopular, and downright dangerous agenda.

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