Democrat Rodriguez sues to remove Miami election chief from recount of US House race

Churchill Ndonwie, Miami Herald on Nov 7, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

MIAMI — Elliot Rodriguez, the Democratic candidate for Florida’s 27th Congressional District, filed a lawsuit Friday seeking to bar Miami-Dade’s Republican supervisor of elections from taking part in an expected recount of his close race against GOP Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, accusing the elections chief of having a stake in the outcome and of being biased in Salazar’s favor.

According to the federal complaint filed Friday in Miami, Rodriguez argues that Supervisor of Elections Alina Garcia should be disqualified from managing the recount and ruling on ballot disputes given her ties to the Republican Party, her past remarks praising President Donald Trump, her election-night declaration of Salazar as the likely winner and her son-in-law’s involvement on Salazar’s legal team.

Tensions between the Rodriguez campaign and Garcia escalated Friday when Alyn Fernandez, Garcia’s daughter and the head of government relations for RHF Law Firm, which is representing Salazar, attended the Miami-Dade County Canvassing Board meeting with the congresswoman’s lawyers.

Robert Fernandez, Garcia’s son-in-law and the managing shareholder of RHF, called the accusations by the Rodriguez campaign “political theater.”

“This is a very fair and transparent process. We have clear guidelines for voter intent,” he told reporters Friday. “As you all see, the public is here, the media is here.”

In its lawsuit, the Rodriguez campaign is requesting that the U.S. Southern District Court of Florida remove Garcia from overseeing ballots for Congressional District 27 on the Canvassing Board and rule that her participation in the contest “violates the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.”

But Garcia said Friday after the Canvassing Board meeting that she saw no reason to recuse herself. And as for voter confidence in the results, she said she is “not worried about that because it’s transparent.”

“All of you have been here throughout all of this process,” she told reporters gathered to watch the proceedings.

Garcia also said Friday that a photo circulated by the Rodriguez campaign of her smiling with Salazar was taken in 2025 during a visit to Washington D.C., and that she had not campaigned for anyone running for office during this election season.

“We remain committed to seeing this process through with the same transparency, accuracy, and integrity that have guided us from the beginning,” she said.

Salazar released a statement ahead of Friday’s meeting describing her lead as “insurmountable” and saying Rodriguez is “behaving like an election denier.” Kevin Cooper, chairman of the Republican Party of Miami-Dade County, accused Rodriguez Friday of election interference.

“A legally required recount is not a license to bully election officials or turn the process into a political circus. The law applies to everyone, including Democrats who don’t like the results. Count every lawful vote,” he said in a statement. “Follow the law. We are confident the recount will confirm Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar’s victory. Losing candidates don’t get to rewrite the rules or choose who oversees the count just because the numbers aren’t going their way.”

It isn’t the first time Garcia, Miami-Dade’s first elected supervisor of elections, has rebuffed demands to recuse herself. She dismissed calls from the Miami-Dade Democratic Party to refrain from overseeing the counting of ballots for Amendment 3 after coming out in support of the sweeping tax-cut proposal. On Friday, shortly after the canvassing meeting, the local Democratic Party blasted her again, accusing Republicans of trying to steal the congressional seat. The party later pulled the statement off its social media and replaced it with one saying “we don’t need lectures about democracy from a party that still hasn’t fully reckoned with January 6.”

“We need election officials who follow the law, a transparent recount, and the same respect for every voter’s ballot.”

According to Friday’s count by the Canvassing Board, Salazar led Rodriguez by 50.22% to 49.78% — a 0.44% spread between the two former television anchors that falls within the 0.5% threshold for a mandatory machine recount.

The results will now be sent to the Florida Secretary of State’s office, which will officially announce a recount. Garcia said that the recount could happen Monday or Tuesday.