Lawsuit to Boot Rivera From Ballot Dismissed

Court tosses out legal complaint

Good thing Joe Garcia hasn't stopped campaigning because it looks like the fight for Congress is still on.

A Miami-Dade judge has tossed out a lawsuit that sought to boot Republican David Rivera off the ballot because of some questionable items on his financial disclosure forms.

The lawsuit was filed last week by two Garcia supporters, who were just trying to make things a little easier for their favorite candidate. The rivals are vying for the District 25 Congressional seat vacated by Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart.

"I think the judge rejected the total publicity stunt by my opponent," Rivera said of the mini-victory.

But that still doesn't solve who is signing the candidate's paycheck.

Rivera allegedly claimed in his financial forms that a major source of his income was the U.S. Agency for International Development for the years 2003-2009.

But USAID had no history of hiring Rivera, who said he did consulting work for them through another business.

"It's a shame the taxpayers and voters don't know the source of Rivera's income or salary," said attorney Roland Sanchez-Medina, who handled the lawsuit for Garcia's supporters.

Rivera's camp said the legal papers were an attempt by a desperate candidate and that the allegations had no merit. A judge kind of agreed.

Actually, the lawsuit wasn't filed within the 10-day grace period after the primary.

Maria Teresa Pascual and William Barzee, the two Garcia supporters who filed the complaint, can appeal the decision but with only a few days to election time, that's not likely.

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