By David Cruz

A Bronx judge has ruled Councilman Fernando Cabrera can remain in the race to unseat incumbent State Senator Gustavo Rivera, despite records showing some of Cabrera’s petition signatures were invalid.

State judge John W. Carter ruled in favor for Cabrera on several technicalities that included the improper subpoena of one witness whose alleged improprieties were presented too late into the trial.

“While the judge refused to consider a number of our objections on technical grounds, this much is certain: Fernando Cabrera’s campaign repeatedly forged signatures from voters who testified they never signed,” said Karthik Ganapathy, a Rivera camp spokesperson.

The development now pushes one of the more closely watched races in the election cycle, with some underhanded machinations motivating the race. Rivera is the current senator for the 33rd District that covers Kingsbridge Heights, Fordham and Morris Park. Cabrera’s 14th Council District virtually covers the northwest side of the Bronx, falling within the Kingsbridge, Fordham and University Heights sections of the borough.

He’s called out Cabrera’s history of purported actions that on the surface appear questionable. Those include an alleged request for funds from developers of the Kingsbridge National Ice Center to a defunct nonprofit he was linked to. The latest perceived infraction was Cabrera transferring taxpayer funds to his campaign in March.

As of press time, a campaign spokesman for Cabrera was unavailable.