ELECTION 2024 - QUALIFYING WEEK .....

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

ELECTION 2024 - QUALIFYING WEEK

Welcome to Qualifying Week. Over the next five days, the candidates who have filed to run in their respective Groups in both the Circuit and County Court will need to formally commit by paying their Qualifying Fee. As always, we can expect to see some surprise candidates jumping into races this week. The question for this week is - WHO ARE THE MOST LIKELY CANDIDATES TO DRAW OPPOSITION? 

(nb edited by Rumpole for blog reasons- see below)

But, before we get to the judicial races, the burning question on the mind of all criminal defense attorneys in Miami-Dade County is - will State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle draw a last minute opponent? Or will she win another four-year term come Friday at Noon?

Fernandez Rundle has raised $317,728 and loaned her campaign an additional $170,000 for a war chest of nearly a half-million dollars. To date, she has only spent $14,872 on her campaign. She clearly does not expect to face opposition in 2024.  Ms. Fernandez Rundle turned 74 years old on March 1st and if she serves out another term, from January of 2025 - January of 2029, she will be two months short of her 79th birthday at the end of her next term. There have been recent calls by many members of the Bar for somebody, anybody, to mount a campaign against her. Recent events that have taken place in Fernandez Rundle’s office, which have been discussed on this Blog, have tarnished her long and dedicated reputation of her career of public service in Miami-Dade County. But, nobody owns an elected office in our County and one must continue to prove that they deserve another term from the voters.

On to the judicial races.

CIRCUIT COURT

A Circuit Court Judge in Florida is currently earning a salary of $191,163. The Florida Legislature approved a raise of 3% meaning Circuit Judges will soon earn $196,898. The Qualifying Fee is 4% of their current salary which comes to $7,646.52

The most vulnerable incumbents likely to face last-minute opposition include one judge who has only raised $34,000 to date, the second lowest total of all candidates for Circuit Court Judge (excepting Jason Bloch) and another who has raised the least amount of money of all candidates with $13,070. She has loaned her campaign an additional $50,000.

Other incumbent judges who have raised less than $75,000 include:

Judge Ariana Fajardo Orshan - $65,450

Judge Mindy Glazer - $63,131

Judge Miguel de la O - $71,149

Judge Javier Enriquez - $73,518

Judge Christine Bandin - $63,850

Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez - $70,965

Which incumbent judges have attempted to bullet-proof themselves from a possible opponent:

Leading the fundraising campaign:

Judge Tony Arzola - $237,325

Judge Lisa Walsh - $230,501

Judge Valerie Manno Schurr - $219,405

Judge Vivianne del Rio - $206,296

Also, someone who may be concerned with drawing an opponent, (I’ll let our readers guess why), is Judge Charlie Johnson. Johnson has raised $151,274 and he has kicked in another $200,000 from his own pocket. He leads all incumbent judges with the biggest war chest. By all accounts, Judge Johnson has done a spectacular job on the bench. He was first appointed to the County Court by Gov. Charlie Crist in 2010. He was elected without opposition in 2012. He served there for five years until Gov. Rick Scott elevated him to the Circuit Court in 2015. Johnson again ran unopposed in 2018 and we certainly hope he draws no opposition in 2024.

COUNTY COURT

A County Court Judge in Florida is currently earning a salary of $180,616. The Florida Legislature also approved a raise of 3% for County Court Judges meaning they will soon earn $186,034. The Qualifying Fee is also 4% of their current salary which comes to $7,224.64.

Incumbent County Court Judges that would appear to be most vulnerable include a judge first elected in 2012 who has raised only $50,100 and another appointed by Governor Jeb Bush to the County Court bench in 2004 who has never faced opposition in three subsequent elections including in 2006, 2012, and 2018 and has raised only $52,850.

Which County Court Incumbent Judge has the largest bank account?

That would be Judge Jacqueline Woodward with $203,410. That amount includes $105,500 of her own funds.  A close second is Judge Lizzet Martinez who has $191,038 in her campaign account which also includes $100,000 of her hard earned money. Finally, is Judge Michael Barket who has $178,268 in the bank including $100,000 of his own money.

If you have a hot tip on a candidate filing, please email The Captain at Captain4Justice@gmail.com.

We will closely follow any breaking news throughout Qualifying Week.

CAPTAIN OUT .......
Captain4Justice@gmail.com

Rumpole says- we do not think it is appropriate to name a judge as a potential target for a challenger based on the low amount of money they have raised. Many judges are very well respected and have  decided not to engage in a lot of fundraising. We do not want to put a target on their back, as, believe it or not,  we actually sympathize with many of them as to the stress of this week and do not want to encourage the "rosies" of the world to come out from under some crack in the wall and diminish the judiciary more than it already has been by the name game of Miami judicial politics. So we edited the post because this is our property and we can.