As if this campaign season couldn’t get any stranger or more colorful. Former Congressman and best amigo to Senator Marco Rubio, David Rivera, has announced that he will primary challenge Republican congressional candidate Carlos Curbelo in Florida’s 26th congressional district.
Let me just say, I expected Rivera to run again (I knew he was going to), but thought the announcement would come sooner than later.Rivera ran for Congress in 2010 and won, but lost to Congressman Joe Garcia in 2012 amid an ugly investigation into his possible involvement in an alleged “campaign finance scheme.”
According to the Miami Herald, who Rivera accuses of lying in their past stories about the investigation, Rivera “narrowly escaped a state indictment on 52 counts of theft, money laundering and racketeering revolving around his use of campaign money. State prosecutors said the alleged crimes were too old or too tough to prosecute.”
Do you think the 2nd Amendment will be destroyed by the Biden Administration?(2)
More from the Herald:
“I will not answer to the lies of the Miami Herald,” Rivera said on the political talk show Ahora con Oscar Haza.“I will not deviate from the issues and [will] defeat Joe Garcia. “Rivera said he’s running due to a “leadership crisis,” calling Garcia “incompetent.”
While Curbelo sits on a mountain of campaign cash, it was a bit odd that he would come out swinging almost immediately after Rivera’s announcement.
Here is Curbelo’s statement about Rivera’s announcement”
My friends,
I just got the news and wanted to make sure that you heard it from me: David Rivera is going to run for Congress again, despite being under investigation by federal agencies for serious allegations that, like Joe Garcia, he participated in a fraudulent scheme to influence an election.I believe that our district deserves better. We deserve someone who is looking out for us, not themselves.
As I talk to the people of this district, it is clear that they are ready for a change. We deserve better, and that is why I am running for Congress.
With David Rivera formally entering the race, will you stand with my campaign today by making a $5 donation? Your money will go towards ending the
Rivera has obviously sucked the air out of this Republican primary.
Expect bulk of the news on this primary race to be focused on Rivera’s alleged involvement in the campaign finance scheme, which could play out quite interesting, seeing that Garcia will not be able to attack Rivera without looking like a hypocrite, after his old chief of staff and friend plead guilty to breaking Florida elections laws.Curbelo on the other hand will continue to try to capitalize on this announcement by coupling Garcia and Rivera as being two peas in the pod of political corruption.
But Curbelo needs to plays this right, and very carefully. Rivera has a lot of name recognition in the district, and still has many loyal supporter. If Curbelo goes to negative on Rivera, he could alienate many would-be supporters, were he to win the Republican primary race.
Don’t expect Curbelo and Garcia to be chatting over pastelitos anytime soon. And as for those dastardly villains over at the Miami Herald (Marc “Frisbee Chester” Caputo and Patty Mazzei), don’t expect Rivera to be calling you anytime soon.