WASHINGTON _ Donna Shalala may be in trouble.
Shalala, a Democrat running in a Florida district that President Donald Trump lost by nearly 20 percentage points in 2016, is trailing Republican TV journalist Maria Elvira Salazar by 2 percentage points in a Mason Dixon-Telemundo 51 poll. The independent poll's margin of error was 4 percentage points and included a pro-Trump nonparty candidate who could siphon votes from Salazar.
Salazar's unique background as a journalist in a party dominated by Trump and her appeal with older, Spanish-speaking voters has enabled the GOP to remain competitive. Shalala, one of the most experienced first-time congressional candidates, won a competitive Democratic primary by less than 5 percentage points and has faced criticism from liberal Democrats and Republicans alike for her tenure leading the University of Miami, when campus janitors went on a hunger strike over low wages and the school acquired Cedars Medical Center.
