According to the Miami Herald, Bettina Rodriguez Aguilera is a solid conservative candidate for Florida’s 27th Congressional District House seat. The primary will be held on August 28. Rodriguez Aguilera won the newspaper’s endorsement, it appears, through default. The Herald states that two candidates more prominent than Rodriguez Aguilera, that are also running for Republican Illean Ros-Lehtinen’s seat, wouldn’t submit to their interview process. She seems to be the next best one in line, though the field is crowded. Here are the Herald’s supportive words about Rodriguez Aguilera:

We realize that Rodriguez Aguilera is an unusual candidate. Last year, she told the Miami Herald — and several Spanish-language media outlets — that she believes in extra-terrestrials. She says when she was 7, she was taken aboard a spaceship and, throughout her life, she has communicated telepathically with the beings, which remind her of the concrete Christ in Brazil. There you have it.

You read that right. Rodriguez Aguilera believes in aliens. But maybe that’s more mainstream than is commonly thought?

“This is a non-issue,” she told the Board. We agree. Her bona fides as a former elected official, and now a businesswoman who spends time in other countries training women to run for office are solid.

That sounds commendable. Let’s reserve judgment on the “unusual” beliefs of Rodriguez Aguilera for now, and see if she does have the potential to represent Florida in a respectable way.

Rodriguez Aguilera is a strong candidate in the race with plausible conservative ideas.

Not exactly an enthusiastic explosion of sentiment for conservative philosophy, but more a quiet recognition that “it could work.” So, she’s not crazy? Let’s keep going.

The daughter of a Cuban political prisoner, Rodriguez Aguilera became an activist, volunteering with the Cuban American National Foundation. She said that she was coached by its former leader, Jorge Mas Canosa, who taught her that, “If you don’t have a solution to a problem, don’t raise your hand to complain.”

Offspring of Cuban political prisoners are usually my favorites, and I particularly like the rule not to complain unless you can contribute to fixing the problem. I am beginning to like her.

Rodriguez Aguilera started her career in the public sector as a social worker for Miami-Dade, and later as an ombudsman at the county manager’s office. She eventually parlayed that government experience — helping residents, companies and start-ups navigate county red tape — into a successful private business.

Experience in the private sector as an entrepreneur scores big here.

She eventually entered politics and ran for Doral councilwoman, becoming deputy mayor, but these were turbulent times in Doral. In 2013, she was accused of violating Florida’s homestead-exemption rules. The matter was resolved, and there were indications that the accusation was levied by political enemies.

Weathering political persecution in a district Hillary won by 20 points in 2016 gives her some loyalty points. But she also has some support in high places:

Rodriguez Aguilera’s son-in-law is Vice President Mike Pence’s deputy chief of staff, and her daughter is a former Hispanic outreach director for the Republican National Committee.

“I went in. There were some round seats that were there, and some quartz rocks that controlled the ship — not like airplanes,” Rodriguez Aguilera said in the interview, a video of which was posted to YouTube and first reported on by McClatchy.

She said she was visited by three large, blonde beings at the time. One was male and two were female.

“For years, people — including presidents like Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter and astronauts — have publicly claimed to have seen unidentified flying objects and scientists like Stephen Hawking and institutions like the Vatican have stated that there are billions of galaxies in the universe and we are probably not alone,” Rodriguez Aguilera told The Miami Herald on Friday.

“I personally am a Christian and have a strong belief in God. I join the majority of Americans who believe that there must be intelligent life in the billions of planets and galaxies in the universe,” she said.