Rep. David Rivera's Connections to Suspected Ringer Candidate Justin Lamar Sternad Deepen

Kyle Munzenrieder August 22, 2012 8:30AM

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If you were Republican Rep. David Rivera, and you were dodging investigations by both the FBI and IRS, you'd think you'd try and keep your nose clean and avoid any controversy while running for reelection. Yet evidence continues to mount that Rivera and his associates helped run the campaign of a ringer in the Democratic primary.

Justin Lamar Sternad, a political unknown who makes $30,000 a year at a hotel front desk job, emerged as a candidate in the Democratic Primary in Rivera's district. He avoided attacking Rivera, but spent thousands going after Joe Garcia, the candidate who won last week's primary and faced Rivera in 2010.

Sternad claims his campaign was run by Ana Alliegro. Now, Riptide has uncovered social media evidence that Rivera and Alliegro appear to be close personal friends.

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