Not so fast, State Representative! David Richardson (D-Miami Beach) may have to put the brakes on his victory party.
Challenger Laura Rivero Levey, who was dropped from the ballot by the Elections Department after her qualifying 
check bounced, is demanding that she be put back on.
In a letter to the Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner, the candidate’s attorney, Richard Coates paints her as an innocent victim of a banking error for which she should not be punished.
It was “beyond her control,” Coats wrote in the July 3 letter came accompanied by a letter from sent with another letter, this one from Suntrust Bank, asking the state to reconsider.
Oh, and a cashier’s check. For good measure. Not because her check would bounce again.
According to Coates letter, the bank erroneously bounced the $1,781.82 qualifying check because Suntrust cleared the $2,000 check from the RPOF written to Rivero Levey and deposited to open her campaign account on June 16. She wrote the state’s check on June 17.
Republican sources told Ladra that the RPOF gave checks to both Rivero Levey and Carmen Sotomayor, who filed against Rep. Kionne McGhee (D-South Dade), and that the two women opened their campaign accounts on the same day.
The bank admitted it was their mistake not to honor the check written to the state.
“As this error was due to no fault of our client, we respectfully request that you allow our client to reinstate her candidacy, waive any fees and remove any delinquent reporting that may have occurred as a result of the returned item,” wrote David Rowan, senior Vice President at Suntrust, adding that he hopes the incident doesn’t hamper his client’s future business relationship with the state.
Maybe it still hampers the present: As of early Wednesday afternoon, Richardson’s name was still the only one under House District 113 on the Florida Division of Elections website.
Neither Levey nor Richardson, who crowed of the automatic victory on his Facebook when he learned the news, could be reached for immediate comment.
Not so fast! David Richardson challenger fights removal added by Ladra on
View all posts by Ladra →
