MIAMI — Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections Alina Garcia is rebuffing demands that she recuse herself from the oversight of the tight race for Republican U.S. Rep. María Elvira Salazar’s seat representing Florida’s 27th Congressional District, which appears headed for a recount.

With the counting of final ballots and certification of unofficial results scheduled to take place Friday morning, an attorney representing Democratic candidate Eliott Rodriguez sent a letter to Garcia’s office Thursday demanding that the elections chief bow out of matters involving the race when it comes before the county’s Canvassing Board, which oversees the inspection of ballots and certification of results.

Garcia, a Republican, is one of three members.

Rodriguez’s campaign based its request in part on a comment Garcia made to The Miami Herald on election night saying Salazar was the apparent winner, explaining recounts rarely overturn the preliminary result.

At the time, Salazar was ahead by more than 1,300 ballots. That lead shrunk to just more than 1,100 after additional canvassed ballots and the final precinct’s results were tabulated.

Florida law mandates automatic recounts when there is less than a 0.5% margin of victory in a race. Salazar held a .47% lead over Rodriguez after election night.

On Friday morning, when the canvassing board meets again, they’ll review any outstanding ballots and certify the unofficial results. The board will also determine whether a recount is needed, though it’s up to the state to officially declare a recount, since it’s a federal race.

Rodriguez’s camp also said it had learned that Garcia’s son-in-law, well-known Miami election-law attorney Robert Fernandez, was representing Salazar’s campaign before the canvassing board. The Herald was unable to reach the attorney, who according to campaign finance records has provided legal counsel to the congresswoman’s campaign.

“The count must speak for itself,” wrote attorney Jason Blank, on behalf of Rodriguez’s campaign. “Ms. Garcia must step aside and protect the sanctity of the count.”

A spokesperson for Garcia said she won’t be recusing herself and did not offer further comment.

Garcia, a former state representative, is Miami-Dade County’s first elected supervisor of elections, a job she won in the 2024 election. The position was previously non-partisan and appointed by the county mayor.

This is not the first time she has dismissed calls to recuse herself. The Miami-Dade Democratic Party last month demanded she step down from the canvassing board after she came out in support of Amendment 3, the tax-cut proposal that passed Tuesday. She did not, saying she was speaking in her personal capacity.

Salazar said in a statement Thursday evening that she would welcome a recount and reiterated that she led the race by an “insurmountable margin.”

“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,” she wrote.

She said Rodriguez should stop trying to “undermine public confidence” and let the county officials do their job.

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