Does he live where he has to? Newly elected Keys politician faces suit over residency

Eddie Martinez was sworn in this month in as the new District 3 Monroe County commissioner.

And the results of the Nov. 3 election, in which he narrowly beat incumbent Heather Carruthers, have been certified by the supervisor of elections.

But Carruthers, a Democrat who held the post since 2008, wants a court to oust Martinez, a Republican, from office.

Carruthers claims in a lawsuit filed Monday that on Election Day, Martinez did not live in District 3, which is made up of parts of Key West, and must be disqualified.

None of it is true, Martinez said.

“She’s a sore loser,” said Martinez, who hadn’t seen the lawsuit yet Monday. “She should concentrate on her family and leave it alone.”

Carruthers on Monday directed all questions to her attorney, Bernadette Restivo.

“We’ll save our arguments for the courtroom,” Restivo said.

The lawsuit was filed against Martinez, Monroe County Supervisor of Elections Joyce Griffin and the Monroe County Canvassing Board, which is made up of Griffin, County Mayor Michelle Coldiron and County Judge Peary Fowler.

Carruthers wants Griffin and the canvassing board to toss the certified results in the District 3 race and declare her the winner.

Martinez listed 1100 Truman Ave. as his home address, but days after his election he changed his address to a home on Simonton Street, according to the lawsuit.

The Truman Avenue address is a building fronted by Martinez’s land surveyor office.

“It is not a legal residential unit and is not qualified or capable of being a residence or a residential location,” the lawsuit states. “Rather, it is a commercial unit.”

Carruthers also claims in the suit that Martinez’s wife and children were not living in District 3 before or at the time of the election.

Martinez said the Truman Avenue address is both commercial and residential and that he was living in the back of the space. He said he changed addresses after the election.

As for where his children and wife were staying at the time of the election, he said that’s a private matter.

“That’s nobody’s business,” Martinez said.

Martinez has been sued in small claims court by a former landlord but the process server said in court documents that 10 attempts were made to serve him. All were unanswered.

Martinez said that’s because he has been in and out of the hospital on the mainland for gallbladder-related surgeries.

“I can show you my abdomen,” Martinez said. “I have road maps to show.”

Martinez said his medical records can confirm he lived in District 3 at the time of the election.

The lawsuit, filed in Monroe Circuit Court, states that Martinez spent the night Nov. 3 at a Key West hotel that isn’t in District 3 — a claim Martinez says is false.

Martinez was the winner of the race as the results rolled in Nov. 3 with just over 50 percent of the vote. The slim margin, though, triggered a recount.

But the recount also put Martinez on top by 142 votes. The certified results, though, are even slimmer, giving Martinez the win by 132 votes.

More than 46,000 people voted in the District 3 commissioner race.

After the election, Carruthers made a complaint about Martinez’s residency to Monroe County State Attorney Dennis Ward. The state attorney, however, has asked the governor’s office to give the case to another prosecutor’s office, saying he knows both Carruthers and Martinez.

Ward on Monday says he hasn’t heard from the governor’s office about the reassignment. The governor’s office has not responded to an email from the Miami Herald / FLKeysNews.

Martinez called the residency question a moot point.

“At the end of the day, I’m sorry she lost,” Martinez said. “But this is what the public wanted. The public wanted a change. They weren’t happy with her.”