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Annette Taddeo speaks during a congressional campaign event in Miami Springs, Florida on August 14, 2022.
Senator Annette Taddeo of Florida is running for Congress for the third time, believing she has what it takes to beat her Republican opponent, the freshman Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL), in Florida’s newly designated District 27, which covers a substantial portion of Miami-Dade County. While the updated House map gave Republicans an edge in November, Taddeo believes her personal story and no-nonsense demeanor — not to mention a recent record of good performance in the reds — will fuel an upset. “I’m known for being very forthright, no-nonsense and trustworthy,” Tonaddeo tells Jewish InsiderMatthew Cassellemphasizing that she never hesitated to oppose the party’s line during her tenure.
Keep the faith: Taddeo, who is Catholic, began to question her faith at the age of 12. “There was a lot of inconsistency between one part of the Bible and another part of the Bible,” she recalled. “My father said to me, ‘Okay, go see the priest and ask him these questions.'” However, his advice proved less effective than Taddeo had hoped. “The pastor said, ‘Oh dear, you shouldn’t read the Bible. This is for us to read and tell you what it means.'” Her father’s response was far more encouraging by comparison. “He just said, ‘You keep reading whatever you want to read, you keep asking whatever questions you want to ask,'” Taddeo explained. Thus began a years-long process of religious discovery, culminating in Taddeo’s conversion to Judaism some ten years later. “The class was full of women, but I was the only woman without a fiancé,” recalls Taddeo, smiling triumphantly at the recollection. “The more I learned, the more I realized that this is who I am, this is how I feel at home, and this is what I truly believe.”
Middle East perspective: Tadio said she “doesn’t call herself an expert” on Middle East affairs “by any means” but still hopes to be a bulwark against some Democrats in the House of Representatives who have grown increasingly critical of Israel in recent years. “I do see, as part of my responsibility, not allowing our party to go too far, as the GOP has dealt with so many completely unacceptable issues,” she told JI. “I do believe that part of my role is to make sure we have that voice and have someone who understands the needs of our community and our community’s desire to support Israel and Israel’s right to self-defense.” The American Jewish Democratic Committee seems to appreciate Tadio’s practice. The group confirmed to JI that its political arm will announce its support for her House campaign on Wednesday. “Annette is known as a fighter,” said Ron Klein, president of JDCA and a former congressman from Florida. “She’s a Jewish Latino woman and I think she can follow [former Rep.] Footsteps of Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. “
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