Salazar Leads by 1,116. Her Opponent Demands Miami’s Elections Chief Recuse Herself.

Republican Rep. María Elvira Salazar leads Democrat Eliott Rodriguez by 1,116 votes in Florida’s 27th District. On Thursday her opponent’s lawyers demanded that Miami-Dade’s elections chief recuse herself from the recount. Salazar’s answer on 𝕏: he is “behaving like an election denier.”

The latest Miami-Dade unofficial tally, reported by Florida Politics, shows Salazar at 124,483 and Rodriguez at 123,367 — a 0.45% margin. Florida law orders an automatic machine recount when a candidate loses by one-half of one percent or less of the votes cast for the office. A manual recount kicks in only at one-quarter of one percent. This race is inside the machine line and outside the hand-count line.

“My opponent is behaving like an election denier, attempting to turn this process into a political circus because he does not like the election outcome,” Salazar wrote in the bilingual statement she posted Thursday night. “My election-night statement stands: We lead by more than 1,100 votes, an insurmountable margin. Those votes represent real people whose voices deserve respect.” She said she welcomes the recount under Florida law and that Rodriguez “should allow the Canvassing Board and election workers to do their jobs.”

The recusal demand

Rodriguez’s campaign posted Thursday that its legal team had formally demanded Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections Alina Garcia “immediately recuse herself from all canvassing board proceedings” in the FL-27 race, including the recount.

Attorney Jason B. Blank’s letter to county elections counsel Oren Rosenthal, as quoted by CBS Miami and WLRN, hangs the demand on two claims. First, the Miami Herald’s election-night coverage quoted Garcia saying, “María Elvira is the winner, with or without a recount,” and that a flip from remaining ballots was “possible but not probable.” Second, the campaign says it was told Salazar’s recount counsel, Robert Fernandez, is Garcia’s son-in-law, and asked for immediate confirmation.

“Voters deserve a fair count. They should not have to wonder whether the official helping oversee it has already decided the outcome,” Blank wrote, per CBS Miami. “A candidate can declare victory. An election official responsible for the canvass should know better.”

Garcia told CBS News Miami she will not step aside. “I will not recuse myself. There is no conflict,” she said. Asked about her son-in-law’s role with Salazar’s counsel, she said: “I don’t know, he could be. He does practice election law.” A deputy supervisor told NBC 6 the same: she will not recuse.

Under Florida Statutes § 102.141(1)(b), if the supervisor of elections is unable to serve or is disqualified, the chair of the board of county commissioners appoints a substitute county commissioner; the supervisor stays in an advisory role. Rodriguez’s lawyers cited that section in demanding a written step-aside and a named substitute before Friday’s canvass.

What Florida’s recount law actually does

§ 102.141(7) is automatic, not optional, once the unofficial returns show a half-percent-or-less defeat. The Secretary of State orders recounts in federal races. Garcia told Florida Politics Thursday that unofficial returns are due by noon Saturday and that if a recount is ordered it “would not begin before Saturday.” Machine-recount results are due by 3 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12, with certification set for Nov. 17.

Garcia said earlier in the week that 202 vote-by-mail ballots in District 27 were still in the signature-cure process. Salazar’s election-night lead had been about 1,325 before the margin tightened to 1,116.

What to watch: Friday’s Miami-Dade canvass and noon-Saturday unofficial returns; whether the Secretary of State orders the automatic machine recount; and whether Garcia stays on the board or a substitute is named under § 102.141(1)(b).