Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez reportedly qualified for the Republican Congressional primary in District 26 because he 
filed his paperwork on time, before the deadline at noon on Friday.
But could a typo kick him off the ballot?
Florida statute 99.061 requires a federal candidate to submit “a properly executed check drawn upon the candidate’s campaign account” for $10,440. But the check written April 13 and received by the state April 17 is from the “Carlos Giminez for Congress” account.
Who is Carlos Giminez?
Although that is how, las malas lenguas say, Giménez used to pronounce his name when he was a city of Miami fire chief, the mayor’s congressional committee is called Carlos Gimenez for Congress. It is hard to believe they would keep a bank account — at a Georgia bank — with the wrong name.
Read related: Carlos Gimenez should resign to run, not abuse office for campaign
Another funny thing to notice is that the same treasurer for Gimenez signed the check for Miami-Dade 
firefighter Omar Blanco, who is the other Republican — or the only Republican? — who qualified (Irina Vilariño, who was Frank Artiles‘ pick, decided to withdraw). Paul Kilgor signed both checks. But Ladra suspects he won’t be working for either much longer.
This is not the first time that Gimenez, or someone on his campaign, make a qualifying mistake. In 2016, when he was running for re-election, he got his own elections department to extend the hours so he could submit a correct check after 10 p.m. The first check was invalid because it was dated a year before.
But this year’s mistake is with the state division of elections. He’s got less palanca there.
Gimenez campaign spokeswoman Nicole Rapanos said they noticed the typo earlier this month and ordered new checks with the correct spelling. They must not have arrived in time for the qualifying deadline Friday.
“Our bank account has the right spelling. It was just a simple error on the check,” Rapanos told Ladra, adding that she did not think it was a reason to disqualify. “They accepted it and qualified us.
Read related: Another Carlos Gimenez faux pas on COVID19 — or is he campaigning?
“Mayor Gimenez applauds Irina Vilariño for running a spirited campaign and wishes her well in her future endeavors,” Rapanos said in a text message statement.
“While the mayor is confident his record will speak for itself this fall, now is not the time for politics. Mayor Gimenez remains focused on the public health crisis at hand and on helping working families emerge from this crisis.”
A public health crisis he is using, by the way, to campaign for Congress, sending text alerts with his name on them and recording messages for residents chosen randomly to do COVID19 antibody surveillance testing that isn’t really valid.
But could this be legally challenged in court? Could he be disqualified? One could argue it is not a check drawn on the candidate’s campaign account because the campaign account has another name.
Former State Rep. and attorney to the pols JC Planas, who has a lot of experience in election law, told Ladra that if the check clears, it won’t matter. Bank errors do not disqualify candidates, he said.
“My 2008 reelection checks said JC Planas Campain,” he told Ladra Friday. “It was misspelled because the idiot that opened the account messed it up.”
Blanco or Giminez will face off in August for the chance to go up against incumbent Democrat Congresswoman Debbie Mucarsel-Powell in November.
Carlos Gimenez qualifies with wrong name check for Congressional bid added by Ladra on
View all posts by Ladra →
