THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

ELECTION UPDATE .....

The 2008 Election season just got hotter as we now have our fifth incumbent judge who has drawn opposition.

In Circuit Court Group 76, Incumbent Judge Spencer Eig is being challenged by Aventura attorney Roniel "Ron" Rodriguez IV. Mr. Rodriguez has been a member of The Florida Bar for five (5) years.

Mr. Rodriguez lists his practice areas as in civil and commercial litigation. He has two quite interesting email addresses: sue u soon @aol.com and lawsuit8 @aol.com.

He has some "claim to fame" having sued Hooters, PF Changs, Sports Authority and other retail establishments under an obscure federal law. In the Hooters action, he sued them for "revealing too many figures" as an article on law.com states. It is a violation of federal law for a business to put all of your credit cards numbers on the receipt. Hooters was doing it and Rodriguez filed suit. Apparently, he has been handling this type of litigation against other businesses as well.

Judge Spencer Eig has not had to run in an election before as he was appointed by Governor Jeb Bush in October of 2005, after the legislature created a new seat. Eig sits in the Criminal Division.

With Rodriguez' challenge of an incumbent Judge, he joins these races with an incumbent versus a challenger:

Circuit Court Group 51
Incumbent Douglas Chumbley vs. Challenger Marcia Caballero

Circuit Court Group 55
Incumbent Jeri Beth Cohen vs. Challenger Abbie Cueller

County Court Group 17
Incumbent Eric Hendon vs. Challenger Denise Martinez Scanziani

County Court Group 42
Incumbent Norma Lindsey vs. Challenger Lisa Lesperance

Other tidbits:

I must admit when I'm wrong. Judge Prescott is not running for any other office. He has filed in Group 35 to retain his seat as a Circuit Court Judge.

This completes the filings of incumbent judges expected to file for reelection. Now we get to watch over the next six weeks to see if anybody new jumps into the races to challenge another incumbent judge or instead opts to file in one of the open seats.

And speaking of open seats, Migna Sanchez-Llorens remains the only candidate without a challenger in the "open seats" category. Group 18 Circuit Court Judge Jon Gordon is not running again and Migna is the only one who has filed for the seat - So Far .....

As for the "open seat" in Group 63, Judge Rosinek's plans to resign before the end of his term have been put in a freezer.

Rosinek, who participates in the infamous drop program, had wanted to exit out early as the result of the drop system - but - he has gotten some behind the scenes pressure from some incumbent judges whom I shall not name - to keep his seat until the very end. To do otherwise, would cause a domino effect the likes we haven't seen since the war in Vietnam. If Rosinek resigns, Crist gets to appoint a replacement. If that happens, the two candidates that are now running to replace Rosinek, Maria Sampedro-Iglesia and Manny Segarra - would be forced to file against incumbent judges - alas, two more incumbents would join the five races mentioned above. So, you see, Rosinek is here to stay, until December 31, 2008.

It's going to get very interesting .....

Judicial Nominating Commission

The JNC has met and they have recommended six attorneys to Gov. Crist to replace County Court Judge George Sarduy, (who was promoted to the Circuit Court). The names:

Joeseph Davis, Jr. (34 years)
Steve Grossbard (34 years)
Alicia Otazo-Reyes (16 years)
David Peckins (31 years)
Rodney Smith (7 years; City Atty's Office)
Lourdes Simon (13 years; Public Defender)

Notably missing from the list: Stephen Millan, Mario Garcia, Jr., and Migna Sanchez-Llorens (all judicial candidates), Shirlyon McWhorter, Flora Seff and William Altfield.

CAPTAIN OUT ........