David Rivera

David Rivera
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromFlorida's25thdistrict
In office January 3, 2011 – January 3, 2013
Preceded by	Mario Díaz-Balart
Succeeded by	Joe Garcia(Redistricting)
Member of theFlorida House of Representatives from the 112th district
In office November 5, 2002 – November 2, 2010
Preceded by	Mario Díaz-Balart
Succeeded by	Jeanette Núñez
Personal details
Born	David Mauricio Rivera (1965-09-16)September 16, 1965 New York City,New York,U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Safiya Prysmakova
Education	Florida International University(BA,MPA)
Website	Official website

David Mauricio Rivera(born September 16, 1965) is an AmericanRepublicanpolitician fromFlorida.He was a member of theU.S. House of Representativesfor one term, representing parts ofSouth Floridafrom 2011 to 2013.

Rivera was arrested on December 5, 2022, and charged with failure to register as a foreign agent andmoney launderingconspiracy.

Early life, education, and early career

Rivera was born inNew York Cityon September 16, 1965, and moved to Florida in 1974. Both his father, a cab driver, and his mother Daisy, a driving instructor, had fled Cuba after the political rise of Fidel Castro.He graduated fromMiami Christian High School.He earned hisBachelor of Artsdegree with honors inPolitical SciencefromFlorida International Universityin 1986 and his MPA in 1994.

After college, Rivera worked asPublic AffairsDirector for theWashington D.C.-based Valladares Foundation, aninternational human rightsNGO.The organization was founded by U.S. AmbassadorArmando Valladares,the formerU.S. Ambassador to the United NationsHuman Rights Commission.Then, he worked for theOffice of Cuba Broadcastingmanaged byauspicesof theU.S. State Department.He has also been anadjunct professorin the FIU School of Policy and Management. His articles onU.S.-Cuba relationshave been published inThe Miami HeraldandEl Nuevo Herald.

Florida House of Representatives

In 2002, he ran for Florida's 112th state house district. He defeated Ray Gonzalez in the Republican primary, 52–48%.He won the general election unopposed. He won re-election unopposed in 2004, 2006, and 2008.

In the Florida House, Rivera chaired the rules committee before serving as chairman of the appropriations committee from 2009 to 2010, where he pushed to create new professional schools at FIU and helped the Miami-Dade delegation work within a tight state budget. “We are all geared toward finding cost savings,” he explained to the Herald. Alongside his support for tax-free back-to-school shopping holidays, Rivera sponsored a measure forbidding places of higher education in Florida from sponsoring and paying for research trips to Cuba.And it was Cuba, perhaps more than any other issue that emerged as Rivera’s main issue concern in Tallahassee: “It’s the most important issue to me,” he said in the winter of 2004. “I think every Cuban American from whatever walk of life has a moral obligation to continue the cause of a free and Democratic Cuba.

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.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2010

See also:2010 United States House of Representatives elections in Florida § District 25

In January 2009, Rivera filed to run for the state senate seat being vacated byJ. Alex Villalobos. However, when neighboring U.S. CongressmanLincoln Díaz-Balartdecided not to run for another term in 2010, his brother, U.S. CongressmanMario Díaz-Balart,opted to run for a new term in Lincoln's district rather than his current one. This created an opening in the seat and prompted Rivera to announce he would run forFlorida's 25th congressional districton February 25, 2010. On August 24, he won the Republican primary with 63% of the vote.On November 2, Rivera defeated Democratic nomineeJoe Garcia52%–43%.

2012

See also:2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Florida § District 26

Redistricting resulted in Rivera's district being renumbered as the26th district.It lost its share ofCollier Countyand picked up theFlorida Keys,as well as portions of Miami-Dade County. While the old 25th leaned Republican, the new 26th is more of a swing district and is equally split between Democrats and Republicans. In a rematch from 2010, Garcia defeated Rivera 54%–43%.

Committee assignments

• Committee on Foreign Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
  • Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere
• Committee on Natural Resources
  • Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources
  • Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands

Later career and FEC investigation

See also:United States House of Representatives elections in Florida, 2014 § District 26

In May 2014, Rivera announced he would run for Congress again.He was defeated in the Republican primary, coming in fourth place with 7.5% of the vote.

In March 2016, Rivera announced he would run for the open state house district 118, but lost to DemocratRobert Asencioby 53 votes.In March 2017, Rivera announced he would run for the state house again in 2018, this time in neighboring district 105.

In April 2012, Rivera initiated a scheme to secretly fund candidate JustinLamar Sternadin the Democratic primary as a way to weaken his eventual 2012 general election opponent, Joe Garcia, when he met with his associate, Miami campaign consultant Ana Sol Alliegro, and directed her to approach Sternad with an offer to provide financial support to his primary campaign. At Rivera’s direction, Alliegro spent the next few months acting as an intermediary, transmitting funds to Sternad, the Sternad political action committee, and vendors providing services to Sternad’s committee. Rivera funneled nearly $76,000 to the Democratic ringer candidate.

TheFederal Election Commission(FEC) accused Rivera of illegally making contributions in the name of another person when he made multiple cash payments to third-party vendors providing services to the Sternad campaign from July 14, 2012, to August 8, 2012. Rivera also took steps to hide his identity and directed others not to disclose him as the true source of those cash payments, the FEC complaint stated. Rivera's activity was also the subject of an investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office of Southern Florida. Sternad and Alliegro pleaded guilty to criminal charges for their roles in the scheme.

On March 24, 2022, a federal judge ruled against his appeal of the $456,000 judgment against him tied to his federal elections campaign violations. It was one of the 15 largest fines ever handed down by the FEC.

On December 5, 2022, Rivera was arrested and charged with conspiracy to launder money and with failing to register as a foreign agent, the latter a violation of theForeign Agents Registration Act(FARA).He was allegedly a lobbyist for Venezuela, promoting the normalization of relations between that country and the United States.Rivera was arrested in Atlanta, Georgia, and is currently out on bail.

On December 15, 2023, additional charges were added to the indictmentagainst Rivera for three tax crimes.

See also

• List of Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States Congress
• List of federal political scandals in the United States

External links

• David Rivera for State Representative District 118official campaign site
• AppearancesonC-SPAN
• Biographyat theBiographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Financial information (federal office)at theFederal Election Commission
• ProfileatVote Smart