Salazar’s opponent slams her voting history in new video

A Democrat running for Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar’s seat slammed the Florida Republican for her voting history in a new video.

Democrat Lucia Báez-Geller goes after Salazar for her record on funding for her district, a topic highlighted in a Sunday interview the Florida congresswoman did with CBS News Miami. It accuses Salazar of lying “about securing $24 million when she actually voted against it.”

“María Elvira Salazar LIED to us, and abandoned #FL27 to please extremists in Washington,” Báez-Geller said in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, with the video attached. “Here are the receipts.”

The video says Salazar voted against funding for projects that included $4.4 million for road improvement and $3.75 million for a Miami-Dade Police Department platform upgrade, plus funding for a local children’s hospital.

In the CBS News Miami interview, Salazar side-stepped when confronted about her votes on pieces of legislation such as the CHIPS and Science Act and the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023. She said she didn’t remember which way she voted.

“The money that you talk about — the $40 million that you bring back to the district — sometimes that money comes from bills that you voted against. You voted against the CHIPS Act and yet you praise the fact that the South Florida climate resilience tech hub is going to be started in Miami, right? You voted against the infrastructure bill, and you talk about all the money that comes back to the airport,” the anchor said.

“So, at the same time that you’re taking credit for the money that you bring back to the district in Washington, you’re voting against these projects on party-line votes,” he added.

“Listen I, that was, I think, last cycle, I cannot really remember right now, but just look, just look at the Americas Act —” Salazar said.

“You don’t want to explain why you voted against [these bills]?” the anchor asked.

“I mean right now, and I’m not trying to be a politician, there’s so many bills that I’ve introduced and I know that many of them —”

“These are bills that you voted against,” the anchor said.

“I understand and … it’s OK. Sometimes I vote, and sometimes I don’t, but let’s look at the positive,” she said.

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