María Elvira Salazar[a] (born November 1, 1961)[1] is an American journalist, author, and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Florida's 27th congressional district.

[2] Before entering politics, Salazar worked for the Spanish-language network Telemundo for three decades after serving as a news anchor for Miami-based WSBS TV.

[15] Salazar worked at Telemundo[16][17] until 2002, when she continued her career as a journalist with America TV 41 with her own political news show, Maria Elvira Confronta.

[22][23] Chilean Judge Juan Guzman cited the interview as a legal basis to rule Pinochet "mentally competent to stand trial for human rights violations".

[37] The Miami Herald reported in January 2018 that retiring congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican who had represented the 27th congressional district since 1989, had met with Salazar.

Salazar called Barreiro's attack advertising "defamatory", saying, "I have been one of the staunchest, most hardest critics of the Cuban Revolution on the air.

[45] She was endorsed by President Donald Trump,[46] won the August 2020 Republican primary, and faced Shalala in the November general election.

[60] She released a statement on her vote, saying in part, "As I have repeatedly criticized Ilhan Omar for her anti-Semitic comments, I had to hold Marjorie Taylor Greene accountable for her denial of the Parkland Massacre, the Flight 77 crash, and accusing a Jewish family of starting the California wildfires.

[73] In 2022, Salazar was one of 39 Republicans to vote for the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act of 2022, an antitrust package that would crack down on corporations for anti-competitive behavior.

[74][75] Salazar joined Senator Marco Rubio in suggesting that birthright citizenship should be "reviewed", citing abuse of the law by foreign visitors to South Florida.

[77] Salazar said in 2018 that she wanted to do "whatever makes sense to the community"; of then-President Trump, she said, "The president has used pretty insensitive words.

"[78] According to the Republican Accountability Project, she voted against his second impeachment, but she supported "[creating] an independent commission" to investigate the January 6 attack on the Capitol.

[80] Salazar publicly supported a carbon tax proposal by then-Representative Carlos Curbelo, which many other Republicans rejected.

[81] In March 2021, Salazar was one of eight Republicans to join the House majority in passing the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021.

[82] She has called herself a "firm believer in the Second Amendment" while also saying that "ways must be found to keep guns out of the reach of those who should never have them, namely children, criminals and the mentally ill".

[86] On January 13, 2023, Salazar reintroduced the FORCE Act, which "stops President Biden from normalizing relations with Cuba unless freedom and democracy are restored on the island".

[91] The bill would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity, and protect the free exercise of religion.

In 2022, Salazar was one of six Republicans to vote for the Global Respect Act, which imposes sanctions on foreign persons responsible for violations of the internationally recognized human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI) people, and for other purposes.

[95] On March 2, 2021, Salazar and Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González introduced the Puerto Rico Statehood Admission Act.

6943: No AI Fraud Act into the 118th United States Congress on January 10, 2024, to establish individual property rights to unique physical attributes, including voice.