Recount to take place in Florida HD 118 district race

David Rivera

Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner has ordered a machine recount between Democrat Robert Asencio and Republican David Rivera for Miami-Dade County’s House District 118 seat.

The ballot counting ending Tuesday had Asencio leading Rivera by 68 votes — 31,395 to 31,327. That’s a difference of just one-tenth of one percent. Because Florida law requires automatic recounts when results are within a half of a percentage point, Detzner’s decision was considered a formality.

Incoming House Minority Leader Janet Cruz has said the Florida Democratic Party is confident Ascencio will remain in the lead after the recount, and become the 41st member of the Democratic caucus in the Florida House, erasing the veto-proof majority Gov. Rick Scott currently enjoys.

Rivera is attempting a political comeback in running again in the Legislature. A former state legislator and representative, Rivera is currently the subject of an ongoing criminal probe and has previously been fined $58,000 by the state ethics board.

Asencio is a retired police sergeant in the Miami-Dade Public Schools Police Department.

The race has been nasty, with a political committee supporting Rivera sponsoring a website and running robo calls accusing Asencio, of being a “child abuser” based on an unsubstantiated 2003 complaint. That led to the local chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police to issue a statement saying it was withdrawing their support for Rivera.

The recount will begin Monday, Nov. 14, “and continuing in succeeding days as needed,” according to a statement issued by the Miami-Dade County Elections Department.

Mitch Perry

Mitch Perry has been a reporter with Extensive Enterprises since November of 2014. Previously, he served five years as political editor of the alternative newsweekly Creative Loafing. Mitch also was assistant news director with WMNF 88.5 FM in Tampa from 2000-2009, and currently hosts MidPoint, a weekly talk show, on WMNF on Thursday afternoons. He began his reporting career at KPFA radio in Berkeley and is a San Francisco native who has lived in Tampa since 2000. Mitch can be reached at [email protected].



#FlaPol

Florida Politics is a statewide, new media platform covering campaigns, elections, government, policy, and lobbying in Florida. This platform and all of its content are owned by Extensive Enterprises Media.

Publisher: Peter Schorsch @PeterSchorschFL

Contributors & reporters: Phil Ammann, Drew Dixon, Roseanne Dunkelberger, A.G. Gancarski, Anne Geggis, Ryan Nicol, Jacob Ogles, Cole Pepper, Gray Rohrer, Jesse Scheckner, Christine Sexton, Drew Wilson, and Mike Wright.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @PeterSchorschFL
Phone: (727) 642-3162
Address: 204 37th Avenue North #182
St. Petersburg, Florida 33704




Sign up for Sunburn


Categories