Telemundo: In Florida, Abortion Could Tilt Key Congressional Races

New reporting from Noticias Telemundo highlights how abortion is likely to impact key congressional races in Florida. Beyond Amendment 4, which would enshrine abortion rights in the Florida constitution, the most competitive congressional districts in Florida are represented by extremists who threaten reproductive freedoms.

Telemundo: In Florida, abortion could tilt key congressional races.
Juliana Jiménez J. | October 3, 2024

• Where Democrats see real possibilities is in key positions in Congress that they seek to flip: in the House of Representatives, in District 13, where Republican incumbent Anna Paulina Luna and Whitney Fox are competing in the Tampa Bay area; and in District 27, between María Elvira Salazar and Lucia Báez-Geller, in the Miami-Dade area.

• “What we have seen in poll after poll is that voters, including Latino voters, reject Republican efforts to ban abortion rights,” José Alonso Muñoz, Hispanic spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, told Noticias Telemundo. “Florida has one of the most extreme anti-abortion laws in the entire country, and we are going to make it clear to voters that María Elvira Salazar and Anna Paulina Luna are a threat to the rights and freedoms of all Floridians.”

• Floridians will be able to vote (early starting October 17 and in person on November 5) on a ballot measure that has made national news, and that, if passed, would enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution to starting from the 24th week of pregnancy, which is considered the point at which the fetus can survive outside the uterus.

• Among Latinos, a majority is expected to vote in favor of the amendment based on recent polls. A Suffolk University survey found that 64% of Latino voters plan to vote in favor of Amendment 4 and thus protect the right to abortion.

• Also nationally, a majority of Hispanics believe that abortion should be legal in almost all cases. 

• Lucia Báez-Geller is the Democratic candidate seeking to unseat Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar, who represents areas of Miami-Dade County, the most populated in the state.

• Báez-Geller, whose mother is Colombian and whose father is Cuban, has been sharing her experience while campaigning to also draw attention to the law that came into effect in May of this year in Florida that prohibits abortion after six weeks of gestation. This is before the vast majority of people realize they are pregnant, or before a doctor can even give the patient an appointment to determine if there is a pregnancy.

• Her rival, María Elvira Salazar, celebrated the overturning of Roe v. Wade on her X account in June 2022: “As a Christian and the mother of two beautiful daughters, I support life. The Supreme Court decision gives power back to the states and their voters – where decisions should be made, just as the Constitution intends.”

• Salazar also voted in favor of restricting access to the abortion medication Mifepristone nationwide as part of a Department of Agriculture appropriations bill that banned the mailing of Mifepristone. The anti-abortion group SBA Pro-Life America gave her an A+ rating based on all the bills and initiatives she has supported and voted for to restrict access to abortion.

• Noticias Telemundo sought comment from Congresswoman Salazar’s office but has not received a response so far.

• Republicans have avoided the issue of abortion this election cycle. Latinas in Texas like Monica De La Cruz achieved national recognition in part for achieving Republican control of Hispanic-majority districts considered Democratic strongholds, but also for their fierce opposition to abortion.

• Anna Paulina Luna, congressional representative in Florida’s 13th District, has avoided answering whether she will vote for or against the amendment.

• Noticias Telemundo asked the congresswoman’s office for comment on her position but had not received a response as of the time of publication.

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