The head of Miami-Dade's elections office on Friday refused to recuse herself from overseeing the review of ballots cast in the Congressional District 27 (CD-27) race after Democratic candidate Eliott Rodriguez said her family's links to opponent María Elvira Salazar represented a conflict of interest.
In response, just a few hours later, Rodriguez filed a lawsuit in federal court asking a judge to force her to step down.
Alina Garcia, the county's Supervisor of Elections, is on the three-person canvassing board in charge of reviewing ballots for the race, which appears set to go into a recount with the difference between the candidates standing at just 1,090 following this week's initial vote count.
Rodriguez's campaign called for Garcia to remove herself from the canvassing board overseeing the review on Thursday because her son-in-law, attorney Robert Fernandez, is the lawyer representing Salazar.
READ MORE: Democrat Eliott Rodriguez demands Miami-Dade election supervisor recuse herself from CD-27 recount
Additionally, Fernandez's wife Alyn Fernandez, who is Garcia's daughter, works for the same law firm as her husband — and attended a meeting of the canvassing board on Friday. Rodriguez's camp alleges she was there on behalf of the company, which her firm denies.
The job of the canvassing board is to tabulate election results and review ballots for any signature issues or improprieties. If the board determines that the race is too close to call after reviewing ballots, a recount will be held on Saturday, Nov. 7. Florida law requires an automatic recount if the difference in the share of votes between two candidates is less than 0.5%.
'Conflict of interest'
Rodriguez argues Garcia's ties to Salazar and her legal team constitute a major conflict of interest, alleging the elections chief may have a bias toward her daughter's client. He also cites Garcia's connection to Salazar as a fellow Republican with close party affiliation.
"Plaintiff alleges that the confirmed representation creates an objective conflict between the Supervisor’s duty to decide CD27 matters impartially and her family connection to the lawyer advocating for one candidate," Rodriguez's complaint states.
As part of the complaint, Rodriguez's attorneys attached a photo from Salazar's Facebook page showing her embracing Garcia.
A spokesperson for Garcia's office, Juan Mendieta, told WLRN that Garcia will remain on the board during the proceedings.
"She is not recusing herself. There is no conflict. This is not a judicial proceeding, and Alyn came to the hearing as a member of the public," Mendieta said.
An attendance sheet for Friday's canvassing board hearing shows Alyn Fernandez signed herself in on behalf of RHF Law Firm, according to a photo shared by the Rodriguez campaign. Fernand Amandi, a consultant to the campaign, called it an "obvious ethical lapse" and an "outrageous" conflict of interest.
This is not the first time Garcia has been asked to recuse herself. The Miami-Dade Democratic Party called on her to step aside from the canvassing board after she openly advocated for voters to approve Florida's Amendment 3 property tax cut proposal. Garcia similarly claimed there would be no conflict.
Juan-Carlos Planas, an election attorney representing Rodriguez in his lawsuit, previously ran against Garcia for Supervisor of Elections in 2024.
