An automatic recount is scheduled to begin Monday or Tuesday morning in the close race for Florida’s 27th Congressional District. Incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar leads Democrat Eliott Rodriguez by about 1,100 votes, a margin of 0.44 percentage points.
The recount must be finished by 3 p.m. Thursday. If the candidates remain within 0.25 percentage points of each other afterward, a manual recount will be required.
Salazar declared victory on election night, saying the campaign had prevailed against expectations. Rodriguez has asked for patience while the votes are counted. “We knew it would be a close race, and that’s what it is,” he told Local 10 News.
Rodriguez has also filed a federal lawsuit against Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections Alina Garcia, asking her to step aside from overseeing the recount. The suit argues a conflict of interest because the attorney representing Salazar during the recount is Garcia’s son-in-law. Garcia rejected the suggestion that the relationship affects her ability to run the election. “I am not the one counting the votes. Everything is transparent and open,” she said.
Salazar accused Rodriguez of acting like someone who rejects election results and of trying to turn the process into a political circus. She described her lead as insurmountable.
