Al’s Loupe

Are you ready for some dirt? It’s Rivera vs. Garcia in November

By Alvaro F. Fernandez
alvaro@progresoweekly.com

“Joe Garcia is the single-most corrupt career candidate in America.” – David Rivera

Those were words uttered recently by undoubtedly the most corrupt politician in Miami-Dade County, David Rivera, who again will face attorney Joe Garcia in November’s general election to determine who will represent Florida’s newly created congressional district 26.

Garcia had to outduel three other contenders to wrest the Democratic nomination in a nastier than expected primary. One of the three, Gloria Romero Roses, spent $425,000 of her own money in an attempt to beat Garcia, a veteran of two previous congressional races – the last in a losing bid against Rivera.

But since winning his seat in Congress in 2010, Rivera, a republican, seems to have been running – first, against state investigators he managed to outlast on a technicality. And to this day he continues to gallop away from an ongoing FBI and IRS investigation into his finances and possible tax evasion.

And if the primary’s nastiness is any indication – some speculate Rivera himself may have orchestrated some of the low blows – the November finale may turn out to be a no-holds-barred rumble in the sewer that is South Florida politics.

As for Garcia being corrupt, as stated by Rivera, there is no proof. And in fact, it’s never been the knock against Garcia, who may have his warts, but they’re not related to any charges of corruption.

It appears to be a blatant case of the pot calling the kettle black. Rivera was facing 52 counts (not one, two or three, but 52) of corruption until recently. He managed to slide under them because of the foot dragging and shoddy work from the Miami-Dade state attorney’s office, which slowed down the Rivera investigation knowing there was a two-year statute of limitation on Rivera. (While in Tallahassee Rivera helped pass a statute limiting time allotted for prosecuting financial crimes against politicians: two years. Regular citizens usually face a five-year time interval.)

Also, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) dishonored Rivera in 2011 as one of the country’s most corrupt members of Congress.

The race for Congressional District 26 may also become one of the most watched across the country. Considered a toss up by pundits and pollsters, when the dust is settled one of Florida’s two new congressional districts will belong to the pot (Rivera) or the kettle (Garcia). And the one thing I can assure you of, this race will be one of the dirtiest Miami has ever seen.

So turn off your TV’s, listen in and watch, by the first Tuesday in November, Rivera vs. Garcia will have made those sleazy reality shows we love to watch seem like Disney.