"Ham-fisted"

 That's how Judge Leibowitz described certain statements made by the Miami Supervisor of Elections.  Ultimately though, he did not disqualify her.  From the Miami Herald:

A federal judge in Miami on Monday rejected an emergency request to block Miami-Dade Elections Supervisor Alina Garcia from overseeing a recount in the tight congressional race between Republican Rep. María Elvira Salazar and Democrat Eliott Rodriguez, while sharply criticizing the remarks that prompted the lawsuit. U.S. District Judge David S. Leibowitz ruled that Garcia’s controversial election-night comments and her family connection to Salazar’s lawyer were insufficient to justify removing her from the county canvassing board.  

The ruling came shortly before the machine recount was scheduled to begin. Although Leibowitz denied Rodriguez’s request for a preliminary injunction, he questioned Garcia’s declaration that Salazar had won the election “with or without a recount,” describing that portion of her remarks as “ham-fisted” and, at another point, “a really dumb statement to make.” The comments, originally reported by the Miami Herald, became a central focus of Monday’s hearing as Leibowitz pressed attorneys about the full context of Garcia’s statement and whether it supported allegations that she had prejudged the election. The judge called the Miami Herald “a paper of record in this town since before I was born,” but questioned whether excerpts from a newspaper interview provided sufficient evidence to remove a public official from her election duties. Rodriguez’s attorney, Juan-Carlos Planas, acknowledged that his legal team had relied on the Herald’s published quotations without obtaining Garcia’s complete statement.