A Tallahassee judge now will decide whether aĀ lawsuit challenging state Rep. Dan RaulersonāsĀ re-election over theĀ use of “Wite Out” will go forward.
“I’m going to review this and get an order out,” Circuit JudgeĀ Charles W. DodsonĀ said Tuesday, after a half-hour hearing. “Good luck.”
Raulerson’s attorney had moved to toss outĀ the case, saying it was moot with the Plant City RepublicanĀ having won in November and been sworn in to representĀ House District 58.Ā
Only the House of Representatives, which is constitutionally the sole judge of its membership, now has jurisdiction over any challenge to Raulerson being seated, lawyerĀ Emmett Mitchell said.
Jose N. Vazquez Figueroa,Ā who is representing himself, is seeking to disqualify Raulerson;Ā Vazquez was his unsuccessful Democratic opponent last year.
TheĀ suit says Raulersonās notary had incorrectly used ācorrection fluidā on his filing paperwork. The stateās notary manual says no correction fluid of any kind is allowed on notarized documents.
Specifically, Vazquez has said Raulersonās notary āimproperly completedā his paperwork by whiting out the date on her notarization of his financial disclosure, changing it from an April to a June date.
He suedĀ Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Craig Latimer; Secretary of State Ken Detzner, the stateās chief elections officer; and Kristi Reid Bronson, records bureau chief for the Division of Elections, faulting all of them for not catching the error and allowing Raulerson to run in the first place.
“I never challenged his constitutional qualifications,” Vazquez told the court. “That’s a big difference … the fact is, Mr. Raulerson never qualified as a candidate. The document is not valid and so it’s a forfeit.”
Otherwise, Vazquez added, “we open a big Pandora’s box in the state of Florida where anybody can just ‘white out’ documents.”
Dodson did not say when he would issue an order.
Vazquez made the news in 2008 when he ran for the District 58 seat as a state prisoner. He was serving time on a charge of driving on a revoked license, records show. He himself was disqualified when he failed to include his full name on a written oath.
