The Miami attorney and former SEC Enforcement attorney is challenging incumbent Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar on a platform centered on housing, insurance, healthcare and the federal deficit.
Vincent Michael Arias has qualified for the August 18, 2026, Republican primary ballot in Florida’s 27th Congressional District, setting up a challenge to incumbent Representative Maria Elvira Salazar. The campaign says Arias is a Miami attorney, former state prosecutor, former SEC (U.S. securities regulator) Enforcement attorney and financial services industry veteran with more than 40 years of public-service and private-sector experience. Arias said he is running as Miami faces rising housing costs, insurance premiums and inflation, and pledged to show up for votes, support term limits and forgo his paycheck if lawmakers shut down the government. His platform includes lowering housing and healthcare costs, reducing the federal deficit, backing small businesses with lower taxes and reduced regulation, funding public safety, investing in transportation and flood mitigation, and expanding education options including school choice and vocational training. The release describes Arias as a Coral Gables High School graduate who earned a Bachelor of Science in Finance, an MBA and a Juris Doctor from Florida State University, became a member of the Florida Bar in 1982, and has lived in Coconut Grove with his wife, Michelle, for more than 35 years.