Fake candidate in FL Senate race in Miami has retained legal counsel as investigation underway

[Roland99]

No-party candidate in Florida Senate race hires lawyer, says he doesn’t live in district
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article247288694.html

A no-party candidate who ran in a Miami Senate race has retained legal counsel as state prosecutors investigate his candidacy.

Alex Rodriguez received more than 6,300 votes in the race for Senate District 37 and likely cost incumbent Democrat José Javier Rodríguez, who shared the same surname, his seat. Republican Ileana Garcia won the race by 34 votes after a manual recount. More than 215,000 votes were cast in the election.

Alexis Pedro Rodriguez, whose name on the ballot appeared as Alex Rodriguez, confirmed to a Miami Herald reporter at his Boca Raton home Wednesday that he lived in Palm Beach County and wanted to run for state Senate in Miami because as a Miami native, “it’s always something I wanted to do.”

According to election documents obtained by the Miami Herald, Rodriguez was registered to vote in Palm Beach County for the 2020 election.

ooops

[dchill]

1. Who did he hire? I think Rudi could use the practice!

[genxlib]

2. It should also be noted

That using the name Alex Rodriguez in Miami is itself a bit of a subterfuge.

For a candidate who doesn't even campaign and who's only purpose is to siphon away a few votes, a recognizable name is a huge plus. The well known baseball player Alex Rodriguez is a historical figure in Miami as a former star for the Hurricanes. Just sayin.

[Roland99]

3. and the same last name as the Dem candidate

[SharonClark]

4. Why wasn't this found out before the election?

The Democrats should have done opposition research.

[Roland99]

5. I recall some articles but they were just days before the election

a similar thing happened in central FL for a commissioner position. The stepdaughter of a former commissioner (and large real estate developer) with ties to a current one was put on the ballot as a write-in in order to help try and dilute votes from a progressive candidate (who still won handily)

The intent was to force a primary election before the progressive candidate had had time to build up name recognition.