Miami-Dade recount dispute grows
Democrat Eliott Rodriguez asks for Supervisor of Elections Alina Garcia to step aside, citing comments and a family connection to his opponent's legal team.
By Malik Salazar ·
Eliott Rodriguez has asked Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections Alina Garcia to recuse herself from the automatic recount in Florida’s District 27 congressional race. The Democratic candidate and former news anchor released a statement on Thursday, Nov. 5, arguing that Garcia showed bias toward her Republican opponent, Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar.
The Rodriguez campaign pointed to remarks Garcia made to the Miami Herald on Tuesday night. In that interview, Garcia stated that Salazar was the winner with or without a recount. She added that a reversal was possible but unlikely. Rodriguez’s team argued that this qualification did not undo the initial declaration of a winner.
The campaign also raised a potential conflict of interest. Lawyers for Rodriguez wrote that Robert Fernandez, who is representing Salazar in the recount, is Garcia’s son-in-law. The campaign did not specify how they obtained this information or provide further details to reporters. Fernandez did not respond to requests for comment.
Garcia’s office confirmed that she would not recuse herself from the process. Representatives for the supervisor’s office did not confirm or deny the family relationship between Garcia and Fernandez. They also did not expand on how Garcia was quoted in the local newspaper on election night.
Salazar responded to the dispute on social media. She accused Rodriguez of behaving like an election denier and called his vote-count deficit an insurmountable margin. She urged her opponent to let the Canvassing Board and election workers do their jobs. Her statement did not address the claim about her lawyer being related to the election chief.
As of late Thursday night, the race remains too close to call. A margin of slightly more than 1,000 votes separates the two candidates. This gap falls within Florida’s 0.50% threshold, which triggered the automatic machine recount. During a Wednesday news conference, Garcia told voters that the process is transparent and that everyone is welcome to watch.
The next step is the recount process itself, which will be overseen by the Canvassing Board. Garcia said she wants voters to understand that the proceedings are above board. The outcome will depend on the final count of the disputed votes.
