Democrats are using the failure of Riverside National Bank to slam Florida Senate President and chief financial officer candidate Jeff Atwater, who oversaw business development at Riverside’s handful of Palm Beach County branches from 2002 to 2009.

The Florida Democratic Party said Riverside’s failure undermines Atwater’s “claim to be someone who will stand up to fraud, waste and abuse.”

But Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, said he was never on Riverside’s board or one of its operating officers and “had no opportunity to influence the overall policies of the bank.”

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