Environmental entrepreneur Richard Lamondin Jr. — a Miami native and self-made water conservation businessman — announced Wednesday that he is “considering” a run next year against Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar in Florida District 27 after much “encouragement.” This may seem early, but the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee recently just put Salazar on its national list of vulnerable GOP-held “Districts in Play” targets in 2026.
What makes Lamondin think he can do any better than former State Sen. Annette Taddeo, who lost to Salazar in 2022 (57% to 43%), or former Miami-Dade School Board Member Lucia Baez-Geller, who just lost against Salazar by 20 points in the Trump Train November election? Answer: Democratic political consultant extraordinaire Christian Ulvert, who will likely be Lamondin’s campaign manager.
Ulvert authored an optimistic memo this week that highlights recent victories by Democrats across the state and country, results that he says indicate there are opportunities for the Democratic Party.
“April 1st was no April Fool’s Day as election results across the nation showed voters from all parties reject extremism and 
embrace pragmatic, balanced leadership,” Ulvert wrote.
From a Chicago suburb council turning Democratic majority to the historic victory of Susan Crawford against Elon Musk‘s money in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race to the two special elections in Florida’ 1st and 6th Congressional District , which were both lost to Republicans but marked significant gains in Republican strongholds, Ulvert and other Democrats suggest these results show that flipping the House in 2026 is within reach.
One prominent example was how Gay Valimont, who lost the race for Floridas 1st Congressional District to Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis (57 to 42, won by three points in Escambia county, which went to Donald Trump by 19 points in November. That’s a 16-point gain. And Trump endorsed Patronis.
“Democrats must seize this moment by recruiting and supporting young, pragmatic candidates who are not afraid to speak up and speak out,” Ulvert said.
And Lamondin, who has been hitting Salazar on the platform formerly known as twitter since late March, might be the perfect example of that.
Read related: Cuban American congress members stay silent on TPS, immigrant detention
The 36-year-old is co-founder and CEO of ecofi, environmental services company dedicated to demonstrating that sustainability is beneficial for business, which he and his brother built from the ground up. The company boasts saving over 10 billion gallons of freshwater and preventing more than 300,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions while saving property owners $100 million in utility costs. He started in 2012 with a company called CondoSavers that aimed to reduce the water costs for condominium owners. Basically, they installed efficient toilets.
This evolved into ecofi after he and his brother Lawrence realized that “the high cost of utilities, particularly water & sewer, presented an opportunity to do great things for the environment while benefiting businesses and residents,” Richard Lamondin said in a Medium interview published last summer. “We slimmed down our services. We focused on water conservation…
“Today, we have grown to be much more than just an energy and water conservation company. We are now the sustainability team for the real estate industry, supporting them in whatever they need on their journey,” Richard Lamondin said.
These are good campaign points. It also seems to be a possible source of campaign funding.
Another good campaign point is his Italian immigrant wife, Martina Spolini, who is executive director of Rebuilding Together Miami-Dade, a non-profit that helps low-income, vulnerable homeowners, small business owners, and community organizations by providing critical home repair and accessibility modifications at no cost. One of its principal aims is to preserve current affordable housing. The couple have a 3-year-old son.
All of this is campaign gold.
A graduate of the University of Southern California with a degree in international relations, Lamondin has been recognized as Endeavor Miami’s Entrepreneur of the Year and named one of South Florida Business Journal’s 40 Under 40. He serves on multiple nonprofit boards focused on community development and youth empowerment, including Project Transforming Hope, Engage Miami, and the ADAPT Foundation.
He sounds like a Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava appointment.
“As a proud native Miamian and firm believer in the power of our democracy, the promise of the American Dream, and the duty we have to protect one another, I’m grateful for the encouragement to run for Congress,” Lamondin said in a statement. “Our communities are calling for action, not empty political slogans.
“It’s time to focus on making life more affordable, protecting our neighbors, and giving small businesses and working families a real chance to rise. My success didn’t happen overnight. Like many of my neighbors, I have struggled with medical debt and the rising costs of insurance, housing, and childcare,” Lamondin said. “It doesn’t have to be this way.
“In the coming weeks, I’ll be having serious conversations about the issues that truly matter, and how I can use my decade of entrepreneurial experience and community work to better support the people of South Florida. It’s time for new leaders who show up, work hard, stand up for what’s right, and find common ground.”
Salazar has recently come under fire for misrepresenting herself — again — when she took credit and thanked the Trump administration for reversing the suspension of temporary protected status for Venezuelans, who were on the verge of being deported before a federal judge, not the White House, stopped it. The Trump administration has actually appealed.
Read related: Maria Elvira Salazar takes credit for judge extending TPS for Venezuelans
The congresswoman, a former journalist who once fawned over Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, has a habit of misrepresenting herself. Last year, she took credit for local federal appropriations — even though she had voted against it in Washington.
The daughter of Cuban political exiles, as she likes to remind everyone all the time, and champion of democracy in Latin America has been basically complicit in the Trump administration’s mass deportation of immigrants, wether they are criminals or not. She is one of four Cuban-American Republicans targeted in a billboard campaign funded by the Miami-Dade Democratic Hispanic Caucus and called a “traitor” for her complicity.
And, yet, she will be difficult to beat. Especially by a nobody Johnny Come Lately.
Ulvert doesn’t think so.
“Voters want to see Democrats lead with a bold economic agenda that puts families first, protects every aspect of the American Dream, and advances a foreign policy agenda that truly puts America First by leading with mutual respect, which has been done since our nation was founded nearly 250 years ago,” Ulvert wrote in his memo. “In Miami-Dade, Congressional districts like CD-27 can very much be in play and lead to a competitive environment given that the incumbent congresswoman has carried the district over the last three cycles by an average margin of 12 points.
“Given the numbers we’ve seen over the last two months… Democrats are over-performing by an average of 18 points.”
He says there is just one thing missing: Money.
“Now, it’s up to the national and state parties, along with the party committees to invest swiftly to create the environment Democrats need to win in November,” Ulvert wrote in what sounds like a pitch for his firm to get some Democratic Party money.
“Let’s not wait until the 11th hour to fumble the ball.”
Maria Elvira Salazar may already have a 2026 opponent in Richard Lamondin added by Ladra on
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