Floridas 26th Congressional District has been plagued with political scandals since its inception four years ago. Now it may add another to its record.
Florida Democratic Chairwoman Allison Tant is asking the U.S. Justice Department to investigate GOP candidate Carlos Curbelo for not publicly disclosing the clients of his public relations, media and lobbying firm Capitol Gains.
According to the blog Political Cortadito, Curbelo put capitol gains, in his wifes name so he could get out of disclosure laws that would require him to make public any client from which he makes 5 (percent) or more of his income.
The timing of the complaint is no coincidence.
Curbelo, a Miami-Dade School Board member, and incumbent Democrat Joe Garcia have accused each other of voter fraud and corruption during the past few months as the November race for U.S. representative heats up.
Kenneth Goodman, ethics professor at the University of Miami, said name calling and defamation is far from unusual in political races these days, but this issue may rise to a different level.
We have a challenge in Florida of identifying and meeting the challenges of public corruption, Goodman said. Thats why it is important to keep our eye on the candidates.
Garcia has faced his share of ethical accusations. A scandal arose shortly after his election in 2012.
Jeffrey Garcia, Joe Garcias unrelated former chief of staff, was arrested for organizing a scheme to obtain illegal absentee ballots. At the same time, Giancarlo Sopo, Joe Garcias former communications director, and John Estes, Joe Garcias campaign director, were accused by investigators as accomplices in Jeffrey Garcias absentee ballot scheme. Neither Sopo nor Estes were charged, but both resigned.
Jeffrey Garcia pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 90 days in jail and three months of house arrest. He was released in December after serving 65 days.
Legal problems havent ended for the bunch. This month, The Miami Herald reported that Sopo was called as a witness as federal investigators intensified their investigation of Jeffrey Garcia. Now, according to the report, authorities suspect that in 2010 Garcia helped fund Roly Arrojo, a faux tea party candidate, to take away votes from his rival.
David Rivera, former Republican congressman for District 26 (then the 25th), was the target of an FBI investigation for allegedly helping fund fake Democratic candidate Justin Lamar Sternad during the 2012 primary to siphon votes away from Joe Garcia.
While Rivera wasnt charged with a crime, the investigation led to the conviction of Justin Lamar Sternad and his adviser, Ana Alliegro.
Florida is one of only 12 states that uses a closed primary system where the selection of a partys candidates is limited to registered party members. Critics argue this opens the door for fake candidates to steer votes away from rivals.
Floridas 26th Congressional District was created as a result of the 2010 Census. The district covers a wide swath from Key West in Monroe County to the southwest of Miami-Dade County. In 2012, there were 394,703 people registered to vote there, with Republicans representing the majority.
Marianela Toledo is the journalistic force behind Watchdog.orgs Spanish-language reporting. Since 2012 she has investigated fraud, waste and abuse at the state and local level of Florida government. marianela.toledo@floridawatchdog.org
