The Knuckleheads of the Day award

Today's winners are Miami-Dade School Board member Frank Bolaños and American Senior High School Assistant Principal Alejandro Rizo. They get the award for their political maneuver to prevent democrats from voting in a State Senate race in Miami-Dade County. Bolaños is challenging the Republican incumbent and Rios a friend and financial supporter of Bolaños is running as a write-in. Since no Democrat is running for the seat, under state law Democrats could vote in the Republican primary. Except now Rizo's bogus bid prevents this.

What do these two think this is, some kind of banana republic? What Rizo did is legal but not right. These two are using a loophole in Florida's laws to prevent people from voting. I just wish there was a way for a judge to throw out Rizo's obviously bogus candidacy.

Voters would be wise to vote against Bolaños for obviously he doesn't trust the constituents he wants to represent. Just crooked pol and his crony who have to fix things even before one gets in office. For thwarting democracy, Frank Bolaños and Alejandro Rizo are today's Knuckleheads of the day.

Open Post- Bright & Early, Jo's Cafe, Cao's Blog, Mudville Gazette, Third World County, Blue Star, Pursuing Holiness, TMH's Bacon Bits,

In one of the state's most closely watched political races, the conservative challenger to moderate Miami Sen. Alex Villalobos just received a prized campaign gift from a supporter: a legal maneuver ensuring that only Republican voters will decide the election.

On Wednesday, a school assistant principal named Alejandro Rizo filed to run as a write-in candidate in the general election in November -- after the Sept. 5 primary pitting Miami-Dade School Board member Frank Bolaños against Villalobos.

As long as no Democrat -- or anyone else outside the GOP -- was running for the seat, Democrats and independents would have been allowed to vote in the Republican primary, opening the election to all the 209,000 registered voters in the West Miami-Dade district.

But now that there is a write-in candidate -- whose name won't even appear on the ballot -- only the 98,000 registered Republicans will have a say in a closed primary.

`HUMBLE CONTRIBUTION'

Rizo is such a supporter of Bolaños that he gave Bolaños a campaign check and sent an e-mail Wednesday to his Republican friends boasting of ``my humble contribution.''

''As a lifelong Republican, I thought my best contribution to our party would be to register as a candidate and close the Republican primary,'' Rizo wrote. ``I have done just that. Now, if Alex Villalobos wants Democrat support, he can run as a Democrat. Let's leave the GOP primary to Republicans!''

Bolaños spokesman Michael Caputo said he didn't know of Rizo's maneuver, but said the campaign welcomes the help.