- David Rivera
-
David Rivera 
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Florida's 25th districtIncumbent Assumed office
January 3, 2011Preceded by Mario Diaz-Balart Member of the Florida House of Representatives
from the 112th districtIn office
2003–2011Preceded by Mario Diaz-Balart Succeeded by Jeanette Nuñez Personal details Born September 16, 1965
New York City, New YorkPolitical party Republican Residence Miami, Florida Alma mater Miami Christian School
Florida International University (B.A.)
Florida International University (Masters)Religion Catholic Website davidrivera.org David Mauricio Rivera (born September 16, 1965) is the U.S. Representative for Florida's 25th congressional district. He is a member of the Republican Party. He is a Miami-based public affairs consultant and formerly represented District 112 in the Florida House of Representatives.
Contents
Early life, education, and career
Rivera was born in New York City on September 16, 1965 and moved to Florida in 1974. He graduated from Miami Christian High School. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree with honors in Political Science from Florida International University in 1986 and his MPA in 1994.[1]
Florida legislature
Rivera was first elected to the Florida House in 2002. He was the chair of the Full Appropriations Council on Education & Economic Development, which oversees Florida's budget in areas such as education, transportation, housing, and economic development. He was first elected in 2002 and successively reelected in 2004, 2006 and 2008. In addition to his legislative office, he has served the Republican Party as State Committeeman for the Republican Party of Florida and as the Executive Director for the Republican Party of Miami-Dade County.[2][3]
U.S. House of Representatives
2010 election
Rivera ran against Democratic nominee Joe Garcia, Tea Party nominee Roly Arrojo, and Florida Whig Party nominee Craig Porter.
In January 2009, Rivera filed to run for the state senate seat being vacated by J. Alex Villalobos.[4] However, when neighboring U.S. Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart decided not to run for another term in 2010, his brother, local Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart, opted to run for a new term in Lincoln's district rather than his current one. This created an opening in the 25th Congressional District seat and prompted Rivera to announce, on February 25,2010, that he would instead be a candidate for U.S. Congress in Florida's 25th district.
On November 2, 2010, Rivera was elected to represent Florida's 25th congressional district by beating Democratic nominee Joe Garcia by a margin of 52.1% to 42.6%. (See U.S. House of Representatives elections in Florida, 2010)
Committee assignments
- Committee on Foreign Affairs
- Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
- Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere
- Committee on Natural Resources
Controversies
Domestic violence allegations
On October 13, 1994 a domestic abuse charge was filed in Miami-Dade County against one David M. Rivera. Rivera denies that he was the defendant in the 1994 domestic violence case, and the victim of the attack has maintained that David Rivera, the politician, was not the defendant in her case.[5] The case file has been destroyed by the court (case files are retained for only 5 years,).[6]
The Miami Herald reported that according to a woman who is friendly with the victim's brother, Rivera and the victim came to her home as a couple to attend a dinner party about 10 years ago. The victim's mother also once worked on one of Rivera's political campaigns, records show.[6]
Mail truck collision
On September 6, 2002, Rivera was involved in a traffic collision with a truck carrying thousands of fliers, produced by Rivera's campaign opponent at the time, that included a last-minute attack on Rivera's character and detailed past domestic violence accusations against him.[7] According to reports filed by the Florida Highway Patrol, a car driven by Rivera hit the truck and forced it to the shoulder of the Palmetto Expressway, ten minutes before the truck's 6 p.m. deadline to deliver the fliers to the post office, preventing the fliers from being delivered in time to be mailed.[6][8]
Rivera has said that he had planned to meet up with the truck on an exit ramp off the Expressway so he could retrieve a batch of his own campaign fliers.[9] The owner of the company that produced the anti-Rivera fliers maintains that the truck driver did not voluntarily pull off the highway. According to the FHP incident report, the collision occurred in the middle of the road.[10]
Additional source of income
Rivera on more than one occasion stated in sworn documents that his primary source of personal income, besides his salary from the Florida State Legislature, was from freelancing consulting work he did for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). However, when the Miami Herald asked USAID, the agency said that Rivera never worked for them.[11] On October 21 of 2010, a suit was filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court stating that Rivera should be disqualified from running for office for violating state laws requiring public officials and candidates to file full and complete financial disclosure forms. After the initial investigation was reported, Rivera amended his disclosure forms, removing any reference to USAID as a source of income for the seven years in question. [12]
Dog track payments
The Miami Herald has reported that "[t]he Miami-Dade state attorney's office is investigating more than $500,000 in secret payments from the owners of the Flagler Dog Track to a company tied to" Rivera.[13] According to the Herald: "Most of the money was paid in early 2008, weeks after Rivera -- then a member of the Florida House of Representatives -- helped run a political campaign backed by the dog track to win voter approval for Las Vegas-style slot machines at parimutuel venues in Miami-Dade County."[13] Rivera did not report any income from either company in financial disclosure forms filed with the Florida Ethics Commission, but instead "reported that he worked during those years as a consultant for the U.S. Agency for International Development," which had no record of him ever having worked there.[13] The Florida Department of Law Enforcement subsequently took the lead in the investigation.[14] In July 2011, the Miami Herald reported that the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service were also investigating the dog track payments.[15]
Wikipedia editing
In April of 2011 Politico reported Rivera's press secretary, Leslie Veiga, had been active in editing Rivera's Wikipedia article and making it more favorable to Rivera. Veiga denied any impropriety.[16]
References
- ^ "RIVERA, David". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=R000590. Retrieved 2011-04-07.
- ^ "Full Biography | Congressman David Rivera". Rivera.house.gov. http://rivera.house.gov/about-me/full-biography. Retrieved 2011-04-07.
- ^ "David Rivera: Biography". davidrivera.org. 2002-11-05. http://www.davidrivera.org/index-1.html. Retrieved 2011-04-07.
- ^ "THE BUZZ: FLORIDA POLITICS. '''St. Petersburg Times.''' January 21, 2009. Online. February 25, 2009". Pqasb.pqarchiver.com. 2009-01-21. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sptimes/access/1633736081.html?dids=1633736081:1633736081&FMT=FT&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jan+21%2C+2009&author=Anonymous&pub=St.+Petersburg+Times&edition=&startpage=n%2Fa&desc=THE+BUZZ%3A+FLORIDA+POLITICS. Retrieved 2011-04-07.(subscription required)
- ^ Hunt, Kasie (August 20, 2010). "Rivera: Complaint 'had nothing to do with me'". POLITICO. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/41322.html. Retrieved August 21, 2010.
- ^ a b c Lebovich, Jennifer (August 19, 2010). "Congressional candidate David Rivera fights off old attacks". Miami Herald. http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/19/v-fullstory/1782630/wavering-helps-foes-resurrect.html#ixzz10rmJch7D. Retrieved September 28, 2010.
- ^ Stock, Stephen (August 17, 2010). "I-Team: Questions Remain of David Rivera's Crash". CBS 4 Miami. http://cbs4.com/iteam/David.Mauricio.Rivera.2.1865613.html. Retrieved September 30, 2010.
- ^ Jackson, Jill (August 20, 2010). "Democrats Seize on David Rivera Controversies". CBS News. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20014294-503544.html. Retrieved September 30, 2010.
- ^ Allen, Nicole (August 20, 2010). "Campaign Scandals Are Weirder in Florida". Atlantic Monthly. http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/08/campaign-scandals-are-weirder-in-florida/61835/. Retrieved September 30, 2010.
- ^ Hiaasen, Scott (August 19, 2010). "David Rivera fights of nasty attack from GOP rivals for Congress". St. Petersburg Times. http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/stateroundup/article1116083.ece. Retrieved September 30, 2010.
- ^ Hiaasen, Scott (October 13, 2010). "Source of Florida U.S. House candidate Rivera's income is unclear". Miami Herald. http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/10/13/1870912/source-of-florida-state-rep-riveras.html. Retrieved October 14, 2010.[dead link]
- ^ Hiaasen, Scott (October 25, 2010). "Democratic donor sues to remove David Rivera from congressional ballot". Miami Herald. http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/10/21/1884222/joe-garcia-to-sue-to-remove-david.html. Retrieved October 21, 2010.
- ^ a b c Hiaasen, Scott and Mazzei, Patricia (2010-12-16) A $500,000 question over track's payments, Miami Herald
- ^ Hiaasen, Scott (January 19, 2011). "FDLE takes lead in David Rivera probe". Miami Herald. http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/01/19/2024317/fdle-takes-lead-in-rivera-probe.html. Retrieved January 19, 2011.
- ^ Hiaasen, Scott (July 21, 2011). "Feds investigate Congressman David Rivera on casino contract". Miami Herald. http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/07/21/2324906/feds-investigate-rep-rivera-on.html. Retrieved July 22, 2011.
- ^ Marin Cogan. "Rep. David Rivera's war with Wikipedia". Politico. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0411/52705.html.
External links
- Congressman David Rivera official U.S. House site
- David Rivera for Congress official campaign site
- Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
- Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
- Congressional profile at GovTrack
- Congressional profile at OpenCongress
- Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
- Current Bills Sponsored at StateSurge.com
- Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
- Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
- Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
- Campaign contributions at the National Institute for Money in State Politics
- Appearances on C-SPAN programs
United States House of Representatives Preceded by
Mario Diaz-BalartMember of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Florida's 25th congressional district
January 3, 2011 – presentSucceeded by
IncumbentUnited States order of precedence Preceded by
Scott Rigell
R-VirginiaUnited States Representatives by seniority
414thSucceeded by
Martha Roby
R-AlabamaCategories:- Florida Republicans
- American politicians of Cuban descent
- Hispanic and Latino American people in the United States Congress
- Members of the United States House of Representatives from Florida
- Members of the Florida House of Representatives
- Florida International University alumni
- People from Miami, Florida
- Living people
- 1965 births
- Committee on Foreign Affairs
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