Miami-Dade mayoral candidate Raquel Regalado filed a lawsuit Thursday seeking to have incumbent Carlos Gimenez tossed from the race over a qualifying check that was dated incorrectly.
Regalado's suit, filed against Gimenez and Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections Christina White, is seeking to disqualify Gimenez and void any votes for him in the Nov. 8 election.
According to a press release from Regalado, the complaint claims Gimenez submitted a check to the Miami-Dade Elections Department with the wrong date then submitted a second check the day before the qualifying deadline.
The suit claims Gimenez didn't comply with a Florida statute that calls for the qualification fee to be paid with a cashier's check if the candidate's check is rejected by a bank.
Gimenez's campaign said the check with the wrong date was never sent to the bank.
"While we have not seen the actual lawsuit yet, the allegations in Ms. Regalado's press release are without merit and frankly, bizarre," Gimenez's campaign said in a statement. "A valid qualifying check was presented to the elections department before the end of the qualifying period and was cleared by the bank for payment. Nothing else is required by law. Mayor Gimenez, as the first place finisher in the primary election, is obviously a properly qualified candidate in this run-off. Ms. Regalado’s desperate campaign is once again resorting to frivolous tactics to try and thwart the will of the voters of Miami-Dade County."
At a news conference Thursday, Regalado questioned Gimenez's influence over the elections department.
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"We have many unanswered questions and concerns about how the process has been tampered with and the amount of influence that the mayor has had as the strong mayor of Miami-Dade County," Regalado said.
