The first thing voters need to know about State Rep. Alina Garcia, who will not seek re-election after only two years in the Florida House and will run for the first ever elected Miami-Dade elections supervisor instead — is that she won’t say that the 2020 elections were fair across the U.S.
“I can’t speak for the rest of the nation, but I can tell you Miami-Dade is one of the best run elections departments in the nation,” Garcia told Ladra Tuesday. “Ever since we had the issue with the Gore/Bush election, the hanging chads, we’ve been making laws to ensure elections are fair and just.”
Asked again if she thought there were shenanigans in other states, she again refused to say.
“In Miami-Dade County and the state of Florida, we had good elections,” Garcia said. “Our elections were fair. I can’t speak for anywhere else because I wasn’t there.”
Many political observers will say that the party pressured Garcia hard to move to the race because the GOP needs someone to stop former State Rep. J.C. Planas, the Democrat who was once a Republican and is perfect for the position regardless of party. After all, Garcia — who won with 58% over an unknown Dem candidate in 2022 — is leaving an almost certain re-election as an incumbent in the state legislature for a new constitutional seat in Miami-Dade County.
Read related: Alina Garcia switches over to House seat where Vance Aloupis walks away
The longtime Republican operative and staffer for several state and county electeds since Rubio was a freshman in the Florida House, has said the job wasn’t initially in her sights. But she was encouraged by the GOP leadership to run. Some might say they vigorously twisted her arm.
“A lot of people asked me to run, but the reason I am going to do it is it’s a very, very, very important position. Especially, you know, that we come from countries where we can’t vote,” Garcia said. “I will make sure that they’re fair, they’re just and they are not manipulated by politiqueria.”
But las malas lenguas say Garcia’s future was shot in Tallahassee, anyway, after she leveled cheating accusations last summer against the future Speaker Jennifer Canady, who takes the helm in 2028. Garcia challenged the designation, saying that Canady had broken rules by supporting a candidate against another Republican in a primary.
The complaint was dismissed. And, some say, so is Garcia’s agenda. So she had no choice.
“She ain’t gonna get nothing done there,” said a source with close ties to Tallahassee.
There are three other candidates, but current Supervisor of Elections Christina White is not one of them. They are Republicans Megan Pearl and Ruth Swanson and Democrat Willis Perry Howard.
However, they don’t matter. Sorry, not sorry. This is going to be a race between Garcia and Planas.
Read related: Former state rep, election attorney JC Planas files for 2024 Elections chief
“I’m running because of my background as an ethics and elections attorney, as a professor of election law,” said Planas, who is an adjunct law professor at St. Thomas University. “And anyone who refuses to stand up to the lies of 2020 is worrisome.”
Planas, a former Republican who turned blue in 2020 disgusted with the party hardliners’ baseless claims of fraud in the presidential elections.
“I will always tell the truth and make sure elections are brought in timely, with integrity and in a transparent manner,” Planas, who filed in July, told Ladra. “That is what I’ve fought for my entire time as an election attorney.”
This might be a “reunion” of sorts for them, to use the word loosely.
Garcia — who originally filed to run for the Senate two years ago but switched to the House District 115 after former State Rep. Vance Aloupis chose not to seek reelection — most recently served as chief of staff and senior policy adviser for Hialeah Mayor Esteban Bovo when he was a county commissioner. Her experience includes stints as deputy chief of staff for Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo and regional director for state CFO Jimmy Patronis and for former State Sen. Frank Artiles.
But her most famous boss is former Congressman David Rivera, who she worked with at the state from 2000 to 2008.
During that time, Rivera was accused in 2006 of planting a write-in candidate against Planas in the state House race. The 26-year-old woman was one of two write ins that year that had zero political experience or interest and were young friends and St. Brendan’s classmates of Garcia’s daughter.
Supervisor of elections is one of three county positions that currently reports to the Miami-Dade County mayor, but Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2018 that makes it — and the sheriff and the tax collector — constitutional, elected offices starting with this year’s election.
Alina Garcia leaves FL House to face Dem for Miami Dade elections chief added by Ladra on
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