Gotta hand it to state Rep. David Rivera — the Miami Republican knows how to fundraise, gimmicks and all.
Take this Friday's fundraiser with Steven Bauer (pictured right), who portrayed the side-kick "Manny" of Al Pacino's Tony Montana in Scarface. The fundraiser is at Cuba Ocho Art & Research Center in Little Havana. While Rivera loves Scarface and can riff on any line of the film, he loves campaigning more. In his race for a State Senate seat, Rivera has already persuaded the likes of Dan Marino to host a fundraiser for him. Rivera has raised nearly $733k, compared to about $322k of fellow Republican Rep. Anitere Flores.
"If someone has a fundraiser in Palatka, I'll be there," Rivera said.
One Rivera critic knocked him for the fact that Miami-Dade lobbyist Brian May, who often raises money for Dems, is hosting a fundraiser for Rivera, who happens to be the county's Republican Party chairman. Rivera brushed it off, saying the fundraiser is being jointly hosted by Rodney Barreto, who typically raises money for Republicans (except when it comes to the race for governor). Other Rivera backers include former RPOF chief Al Cardenas, a Bush-ite.
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