Rodriguez sues to remove Miami election chief from recount of US House race

Elliot Rodriguez, the Democratic candidate for Florida's 27th Congressional District, filed a lawsuit Friday seeking to bar Miami-Dade's Republican supervisor of elections from taking part in an expected recount of his close race against GOP Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar, accusing the elections chief of having a stake in the outcome and of being biased in Salazar's favor.

According to the federal complaint filed Friday in Miami, Rodriguez argues that Supervisor of Elections Alina Garcia should be disqualified from managing the recount and ruling on ballot disputes given her ties to the Republican Party, her past remarks praising President Donald Trump, her election-night declaration of Salazar as the likely winner and her son-in-law's involvement on Salazar's legal team.

Tensions between the Rodriguez campaign and Garcia escalated Friday when Alyn Fernandez, Garcia's daughter and the head of government relations for RHF Law Firm , which is representing Salazar, attended the Miami-Dade County Canvassing Board meeting with the congresswoman's lawyers.

Robert Fernandez, Garcia's son-in-law and the managing shareholder of RHF...