ELECTION CENTRAL: WHO'S RUNNING FOR JUDGE IN 2016 ..... UPDATED

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

NEW CANDIDATE FILINGS FOR ELECTION 2016 .....

In our post dated January 26th, we discussed the first filings for the Judicial Election of 2016.  At that time, Judge David Young had filed to run in retiring Judge Rodriguez Chomat's Group 39 seat.  On the same date that Young filed, attorney Oscar Rodriguez-Fonts filed to run in the same Group.  Before I was able to finish writing the post, attorney Carol "Jodie" Breece filed to run in Group 52, the group of retiring Judge Michael Genden.

Well, in the past few days, things got much more interesting.  Where do I begin?

David Young is still running for Judge, and he is still running in Group 39; but now, nobody is running against him.

As for Group 52, it just got very crowded, with four candidates having filed in that Group.  Jodie Breece is still in the group, and she is joined now by Oscar Rodriguez-Fonts, who filed papers with the Elections Commission switching from Group 39 to Group 52.  Joining Breece and Rodriguez-Fonts are:

Elena Ortega-Tauler.***  Ms. Tauler has been a member of The Florida Bar for 26 years.  She runs a solo practice and specializes in the field of Immigration Law.  Now, I have not had the pleasure of meeting Candidate Tauler, but if she has ever read my columns on this Blog, then she would have known that this was coming.  You see, there is no Elena Ortega-Tauler that is a licensed attorney in the State of Florida.  There is an Elena C. Tauler.  And Ms. "Tauler" even has a web site for her law firm.  I read through the dozen or so pages on that web site.  Do you think I found any, even one, reference to her being called "Ortega-Tauler"?  NO.  NADA.

Not only does Ms. Tauler list her name on The Florida Bar's web site as Elena C. Tauler, but we were also able to find that the home she apparently lives in, in the City of Doral, has her name on that deed as Elena C. Tauler.  Also, there are no less than 24 corporations listed on Sunbiz where Elena C. Tauler is either an Officer and/or the RA.  And, check the no less than seven documents that Tauler filed with the Florida Division of Elections in Tallahassee when she filed to run for Judge; all seven have a signature that clearly appears to read "Elena Tauler".

Why Ms. Tauler do you feel the need to attempt to pull one over on the voters of Miami-Dade County?  Why are you running for a job where the public expects nothing less than for you to be the class of judgment and professionalism; yet your first act in running for Judge is one of deceiving the public by adding the name "Ortega" to your last name?  We have outed several potential judicial candidates in the past on this Blog; you are not the first, and you most certainly will not be the last.

If you are going to run for Judge under the name "Ortega-Tauler", then at least have the decency to use that same name in the Member's Section of the Florida Bar web site and change your name on your own law firm web site so it reads "Ortega-Tauler".

***Addendum***. Thank you to Wannabe Captain.  That commenter reminded me of a post I scribed on April 24, 2008, that can be found here. Now I remember how I earned my reputation.  Six and one half years ago I first reported on Ms. Tauler when she filed to run against Migna Sanchez Llorens.  (Shortly after my post, Ms. Tauler withdrew her name from the race). In that post, we alluded to the fact that Ms. Tauler had been recommended for Disbarment by The Florida Bar, but the Supreme Court overruled that recommendation and Suspended her for three years.  We also made mention of the more than 30 lawsuits Ms. Tauler was a party to in Miami-Dade County.  Please take the time to review our earlier post and thanks again to Wannabe Captain for the reminder.

Raul Alberto Perez-Ceballos.  Mr. Perez-Ceballos has been a member of The Florida Bar for 12 years.  He has a solo practice and specializes in the field of Family Law.  He was interviewed by reporter Julie Kay for the Daily Business Review recently and he indicated that: "I like to read, and I like to write," ...... "That's why I want to be a judge."

Perez-Ceballos had this to say about the crowded field in Group 52: "This could be a record," .... "I've seen a three-way race but I've never seen a four-way race go through."

Raul, Raul.  Yo soy El Capitan!  The Captain only has to go back to Election 2004 to recall that Don Cohn, Catherine Parks, William Thomas, and Josie Velis ran for Judge in the same Circuit Court Group.  Or, how about Election 2002 when Alexander Akpodiete, Xavier Cortada, Raul Ordonez, and Sarah Zabel ran in the same Group.  Or, Election 2000, when Gina Mendez, Dennis Murphy, Martin Zilber, and Peter Sylvester Adrien ran for Judge against each other.  For 100 points, who won each Election?  And for 50 bonus points, who was in each of the Runoffs?

So, what can you take away from this post?  Well, for one thing - read the DBR and end up with quotes like "I like to read and write; that's why I want to be a judge".  Read Rumpole's Justice Building Blog with crack political reporter El Capitan, and you get the story behind the story; Ms. Tauler!

That's your Election Central update for our Judicial Elections 2016.

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

ELECTION CENTRAL: WHO'S RUNNING FOR JUDGE IN 2016

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

BREAKING NEWS ....NEW CANDIDATE FILING TODAY ......

MONA LISA VITO ...........................

More than once we have been referred to as the Mona Lisa Vito of reporters, when it comes to the reporting of judicial elections in Miami-Dade County.  And, following our reporting on the filing of Judge David Young last week, we received several emails requesting the lineup of who's up in 2016 for reelection.

Without further adieu, here is the list of Judges, both Circuit and County Court, whose terms expire in 2016.

CIRCUIT COURT

32 Areces, Barbara

28 Bailey, Jennifer D.

10 Bernstein, Scott M.

34 Freeman, Gill Sherryl

52 Genden, Michael A.

62 Gordo, Monica

41 Hirsch, Milton

76 Eig, Spencer*** 

66 Luck, Robert

30 Rodriguez, Rosa I.

39 Rodriguez-Chomat, Jorge

45 Ruiz-Cohen, Samantha

74 Sarduy, George Alexander

59 Sayfie, Nushin Ghofrany

03 Schlesinger, John C.

12 Soto, Bertila A.

40 Thomas, William L.

20 Thornton, Jr., John W.

COUNTY COURT

11 Gonzalez-Paulson, Michaelle

35 Graham, Wendell Mitchell

23 Kelly, Carroll J.

07 Newman, Edward

15 Rubenstein, Judith

05 Seraphin, Fred

There are 18 Circuit Court Judges whose terms expire at the end of 2016.  At least two of them will have hit mandatory retirement based on their age: Judge Genden and Judge Rodriguez-Chomat.

On Friday, January 16, 2015, former Judge David Young filed to run in Group 39, Rodriguez'-Chomat's group. Coincidentally, on the same day, attorney Oscar Rodriguez-Fonts also filed to run in that group.  You may remember that Rodriguez-Fonts ran unsuccessfully in the most recent election cycle against Judge Martin Zilber.  Zilber beat Rodriguez- Fonts by only 2,316 votes out of nearly 152,000 cast; (50.8%-49.2%).

That begs the question: why didn't one of those two candidates file in Group 52, Genden's seat?  My guess would be that Genden has decided not to complete his term and we can expect that he will resign his seat sometime in the next year or so.

BREAKING .................

In the time it took to author this post, attorney Carol "Jodie" Breece has filed to run for Circuit Court Judge, in Group 52.  I would hope that Ms. Breece had a sit down with Judge Genden before filing to learn whether Genden intends to serve out his term.  If he were to resign early, Governor Scott would appoint the replacement and Breece would be forced to find a new Group if she wants to run in 2016.

You may recall that Ms. Breece filed in 2014 to run for County Court Judge against Incumbent Judge Ana Maria Pando and challenger Diana Gonzalez.  Ultimately, Breece withdrew her candidacy before the qualifying deadline.  She told me back then that she would definitely be running in 2016.  Looks like she kept her word.  Good luck Jodie.

***Judge Spencer Eig needs a new Campaign Treasurer.  Albert Corrada currently holds that honor.  Judge Eig ran unopposed for reelection in 2014 in Group 76.  The Division of Elections though was more concerned that Eig, more than once, filed late Campaign Treasurer's Reports.  On November 19, 2013, Eig was fined $525 for a late filing.  Again, on August 11, 2014, he was fined $400, for another late filing.

Now, if that wasn't poor enough record keeping for Eig and Corrada, for some reason, on August 26, 2014, Eig and Corrada filed papers with the Division of Elections indicating that Eig planned to run for Judge in 2016, again, in Group 76. At least that is what the Division of Elections is currently reporting.  We'll keep you updated on this.  ****We received an email from Mr. Corrada.  He has indicated that the paperwork filed on August 26, 2014 was meant for Judge Eig's reelection campaign in 2020.  Because the Division of Elections has not even opened a web page for that election cycle, they are reporting it as if Judge Eig is running in 2016.****

There are also 6 incumbent judges in County Court whose terms expire in 2016.

Of course, all of this is subject to change; judges getting elevated, retiring, etc.

Qualifying for the election is 15 months away and ends on May 6, 2016.  The election itself is 19 months from now and will take place on Tuesday, August 30, 2016.


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