South Florida candidate sues election official, alleging bias in a contentious, razor-thin race
MIAMI — South Florida Democratic congressional candidate Eliott Rodriguez filed a federal lawsuit against the Miami-Dade supervisor of elections Friday, citing bias after she declined to recuse herself from the recount process.Incumbent Rep.
Maria Elvira Salazar is named in the lawsuit as well.The lawsuit seeks to bar Miami-Dade supervisor of elections, Alina García, from acting as a deciding member of the county canvassing board for the 27th Congressional District, where the results are razor thin.Salazar was leading Rodriguez by 1,103 votes or 0.44 percentage points as of Thursday evening.
Florida law requires automatic recounts when there is less than a 0.5-point margin.The canvassing board oversees the recount.Rodriguez’s campaign demanded Thursday that García recuse herself from oversight of the recount.The Rodriguez campaign alleged the attorney representing Salazar in the recount, Robert Fernández, is García’s son-in-law and requested immediate confirmation, saying the relationship would raise additional serious concerns, according to the complaint.
The campaign also cited in the lawsuit an interview García gave to The Miami Herald on election night stating, “Maria Elvira is the winner, with or without a recount” and that it was “possible but not probable” there were enough remaining ballots to flip the results.She added that recounts almost never end up going the other way.“Usually the trend we see is what continues,” García was quoted as saying.
In other words, if Salazar is ahead, it will likely remain that way.The Miami Herald also reported that Oren Rosenthal, general counsel for the supervisor of elections, estimated he’s seen about 20 recounts, and with the margin that Salazar was leading by on Tuesday night, he said it was unlikely the result will be overturned.The deputy supervisor of elections, Juan Mendieta, told NBC News, “There is no conflict.She is not recusing herself.” Juan-Carlos Planas, general counsel for...