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Florida Democrats may seek to remove the Democratic candidate who filed for the state House seat being vacated by Trey Traviesa, so they can choose a stronger candidate.
The reason: When the candidate, Lewis Laricchia, qualified to run for the office he wasn’t a Democrat, even though he signed a legally required, sworn statement saying he was.
“We have a candidate who might not be a candidate,” said incoming House Democratic Leader Franklin Sands, after the Tribune informed him of Laricchia’s registration history. “Because he wasn’t a Democrat at the time he filed his papers to qualify, he is not properly qualified to be a Democratic candidate.”
On the date he qualified, June 18, Laricchia was registered no-party. He switched his registration to Democratic July 16, nearly a month later, according to the state Division of Elections.
Democrats think that may be grounds for removing him from the ballot. They could then come up with a stronger candidate to replace him on the ballot to run against the comparatively unknown Rachel Burgin, chosen by county GOP leaders to replace Traviesa.
Jennifer Davis, a spokeswoman with the state Division of Elections, said the division’s legal office thinks the discrepancy wouldn’t disqualify Laricchia from the ballot. She said case law concerning another oath candidates must sign, swearing that they meet the qualifications for the office, has held that the candidates must meet those qualifications at the time their term of office would begin—not at the time they sign the oath.
The Dems didn’t bother recruiting a candidate to run against Traviesa—he was considered unbeatable. But he withdrew last week, well after qualifying for the seat was over. That meant Hillsborough County Republican party leaders, with their ballot now blank, could decide on a nominee to replace him.
Now the Dems would like to have a viable candidate instead of Laricchia, who’s an unknown. But they can’t choose a candidate unless they can get Laricchia off their ballot, leaving it blank, and he has said he’s not leaving voluntarily.
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