Will misspelled check disqualify Gimenez from U.S. House race?
Firefighter Omar Blanco is attempting to get his Republican primary opponent — who is also his boss — thrown off the August ballot after Miami-Dade Mayor
Carlos Gimenez paid a qualifying fee this month with a check that misspelled his own name.
Gimenez’s congressional campaign paid the state’s $10,440 qualifying fee with a check dated April 13, and he has officially been placed on the Aug. 18 ballot for the
Republican primary in Florida’s 26th Congressional District, according to the Florida Division of Elections.
But the name on the check was “Carlos Giminez for Congress” — a misspelling of Gimenez’s last name that Blanco says should disqualify Gimenez and end the two-person primary.
Blanco, a heavy underdog in the race, filed suit against Gimenez and Florida Secretary of State Laurel Lee on Tuesday in Leon County state court, arguing that Gimenez ran afoul of a Florida law that requires a candidate to submit payment through “a properly executed check drawn on the candidate’s campaign account.”
The penalty for failing to follow the law is disqualification.
“As a result of said failures, a declaration of disqualification of Carlos Gimenez’s request for candidacy for the office of United
States Representative ... is warranted,” wrote Luis F. Navarro, Blanco’s attorney.
Gimenez’s campaign says the misspelling was a misprint on the check, and that Gimenez’s name is spelled correctly on the campaign account from which the money was transferred. Spokeswoman Nicole Rapanos issued a statement Thursday shrugging off the lawsuit, which was first reported by the News Service of Florida.
“Our filing paperwork is in order and our bank account has the right spelling,” she said. “The Florida Division of Elections accepted, deposited and validated our paperwork and check, just as they indicated to us they would prior to the deadline.”
The Florida primary is scheduled for Aug. 18. Whoever wins the race will go on to face incumbent Democratic Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell in the November general election.
Gimenez