DAY ONE QUALIFYING WEEK:
(For any hot breaking tips that you wish to share, please consider emailing us at Captain4Justice@gmail.com . Your personal information will be kept confidential).
BREAKING BREAKING BREAKING NEWS***
KATHERINE FERNANDEZ RUNDLE HAS AN OPPONENT ......
Yes, it's true. Ms. Rundle has drawn an opponent and his name is Roderick Vereen*. Most of you know Rod as a criminal defense attorney. He has been a member of the Florida Bar for 21 years. He most recently ran, unsuccessfully, for a seat in the United States House of Representatives. Seeing as there was a baseball size team of Democratic candidates in that race, one that Frederica Wilson eventually won, Rod filed as an Independent. In the race to defeat long-time incumbent Rundle, he has filed as a Democrat.
Mr. Vereen better be prepared to spend lots of his own money, or raise it very quickly. Ms. Rundle, not one to take anything for granted, has been hard at work these past six months raising her own campaign funds. As of the March 31, 2012 reporting cycle, she has raised $440,388 (including $26,811 of InKind contributions) from 1475 contributors. That works out to an average of just under $300 for each donator. She has added $48,000 of her own money for a total of $488,388.
Hey Rod, got a half million dollars sitting around anywhere that you would like to kickstart that campaign with?
Now we're really going to have a fun summer!!!!!
*Roderick Vereen was born in Germany and raised in South Florida. He earned a bachelor's in criminology from Florida State University and a law degree from the Southern University Law Center. He served as a former assistant state attorney and later became the first black assistant federal public defender for the northern district of Florida's federal court. He was also an adjunct professor at Florida State University and at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University.
BREAKING BREAKING NEWS*** -
TONYA BRINKLEY HAS AN OPPONENT .....
In Group 28 of the County Court, Assistant State Attorney Frank A. Hernandez* has filed to run against Ms. Brinkley. You all have been asking for someone to step up and file against Ms. Brinkley, well now you have your opponent. By the way, Mr. Hernandez has been an attorney in Florida for - wait - hold that thought - Six (6), count em, six years. As reported earlier today, Ms. Brinkley is on the leaderboard of two separate financial reporting lists: She has raised a total of $81,418, second only to long-time incumbent County Court Judge Caryn Schwartz. Ms. Brinkley has also thrown down $100,000 of her own money toward the campaign.
*We know very little about Mr. Hernandez. He graduated from Florida Coastal Law School in the Spring of 2005 and was sworn in as an attorney in October of the same year. We assume he has been through the standard rounds: DUI's, Juvenile and now must be somewhere in the Felony Division. Hopefully our loyal readers can shed some light on Mr. Hernandez and his breadth of experience.
BREAKING NEWS*** -
DON COHN HAS AN OPPONENT ......
In Group 40 of the County Court, attorney Lourdes Cambo* has filed to run against incumbent Don Cohn. Judge Cohn has raised a total of $22,500 in campaign contributions and has loaned an additional $21,000 to the campaign. It looks like Judge Cohn will be in for a long hot summer campaign to retain his seat.
* We know very little about attorney Lourdes Cambo. She has been a licensed attorney in Florida for 20 years and specializes in Workers Compensation.
***You can't find this Breaking News in the Daily Business Review. Can't find it in the Herald or the Sun Sentinel. But, you can always turn to Rumpole's Justice Building BLOG for the latest Breaking News on what's going on at our Gerstein Justice Building.
Thanks to all our loyal followers.
Cap Out .......................
50 comments:
WWW.STOPDEBULLSHEEEEET.COM
Reprinted with permission from The Captain.
THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:
ELECTION UPDATE .....
Watching and waiting, that's the name of the game now, as it is T-96hours and counting until deadline for qualifying.
In our Circuit Court races, there are 32 candidates. Several of those have paid their qualifying fee TODAY. The count stands at 19 paid and 13 having not paid including open seat candidates:
Verde
Wallace
Santovenia
DeYurre
Pooler
Open seat candidates that have paid their qualifying fee:
Koppel
de la O
Labora
Still no challenger to Tanya Brinkley in the County Court race.
Cap Out ....
Tas an opponent. Last name Hernandez
Reprinted with permission from The Captain
THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:
ELECTION CENTRAL .....
Campaign Finance Reports are in! Last week we gave you the numbers in Circuit Court. This week it's the County Court that is the subject of our focus:
CCOUNTY COURT
34 candidates.
5 contested races.
22 incumbents with no opposition
4 incumbents with opposition
TOP SIX MONEY RAISERS:
Caryn Schwartz - $107,335
Tanya Brinkley - $81,418
Ana Maria Pando - $76,135
Larry King - $74,765
Andrea Wolfson - $73,738
Myriam Lehr - $70,605
BOTTOM FIVE MONEY RAISERS:
William Wells - ZERO
Andy Hague - $5,200
Mary Jo Francis - $7,025
Enrique Yabor - $9,166
Diana Gonzalez - $9,880
TOP NINE PERSONAL LOANS:
Andy Hague - $200,000
Joe Davis - $150,000
Jacci Seskin - $150,000
Charlie Johnson - $140,000
Dawn Denaro - $140,000
Robin Faber - $125,100
Tonya Brinkley - $100,000
Sam Slom - $100,000
John Rodriguez - $100,000
Deborah White-Labora - $100,000
Most confident County Court candidate:
Maria Ortiz who has raised only $15,600 and loaned her campaign Zero.
With four days to go, Tanya Brinkley remains the only non-incumbent candidate without opposition.
CAP OUT .....
For the love of Cohn!!!! Get Cambo out of group 40
Brinkely's opponent has been a member of the Bar for how long? Did I read that correctly?
While long term legal experience does not necessarily meant that the attorney will be a good judge, and short term legal experience does not necessarily mean that the attorney will be a poor judge, I really think that 10 years of legal practice should be a minimum standard.
Why 10 years and not 15? It seemed like a reasonable enough number to me.
"Filing" Frank Hernandez must have been inspired by his FSU buddy Ms. Seskin. The SAO delegation for judges is weak this time around. Looks like the Gov. appointed all the good ones. Frank can be seen Campaigning during one of his 20 daily smoke breaks.
to 12:34 pm from this weekend.
Re John Rodriguez.
All very good points. Unfortunately, as of today, Mr. Rodriguez has paid his qualifying fee and will be running against Judge Teretha Thomas Lundy.
Cap Out ....
Rundle also has a chalenger. Vereen filed.
Congrats to Tonya Brinkley, she represented a good friend of mine during a complex divorce, in which my friend owned a lot of rental properties.Thank God he still has some of his property.The ex-wife ask the Judge for his boat that he and I go fishing on.The Judge thought that request was ridiculous. So hats off to Tonya Brinkley persistence pays off.
Rump, your right, cant get this new anywhere else this fast unless your in the loop that is....
Great; now I gotta send money to Cohn and Brinkley. Was already planning on sending to Teretha.
Don Cohn's opponent may find him a more difficult target than expected. Very few judges, circuit or county, put in the time in the community that he does.
Very hard to see how Rod Vereen can make a meaningful assault on KFR. As both are Ds it gets decided in August and she has half a million in the bank -- not to mention years of incumbency. Four months to make up all that ground?
Rump/Captain: what's the track record on judges with minimal time as lawyers? Any of our present stars run from just a few years experience? Any of the poor ones?
to American Minority:
Thanks for your compliment. We always try and stay ahead of the competition.
Captain Out ....
SIX YEARS?!? Are you kidding me? I would never vote for someone with so little experience. The fact that anyone thinks they're qualified to be a judge after so little time tells me that they most definately that they are NOT.
BTDT
Hey all you political gurus try this on for size. Rod Vereen has filed as a Democrat. Kathy rundel is also a Democrat. that means she has to face him in a Democratic primary, where none of the hard-line Republican Cubans (her strongest base) can vote. Can Kathy beat rod in a democratic only election in Dade County Florida? I don't think so. Ms. Rundle is in big trouble
Rump,
Is it true that you are gonna blow the lid off sleazy lawyers and corrections kicking back to bondsmen?
I've had more than a few clients tell me that bondsmen told them to hire a particukar lawyer.
Aren't they supposed to give like three names?
Will KFR ever do omething about it?
The Captain Reports:
BTDT:
I'm being told that Mr. Hernandez is currently assigned to the position of FSU (Felony Screening Unit) at the SAO? Can anyone confirm this?
Cap Out .....
yes, he is assigned to the felony screening unit. g-d help us if he gets elected.
As long as there is no Republican opponent, Rundle's race will be an "open primary" where all voters will be allowed to vote. So 8:24PM, you are mistaken. Ms. Rundle is not in the trouble like you think she is.
No way he's worse than Tanya.
Rod has zero chance. He is simply running to get his name out there.
How will FSU survive once it loses Frank and Seskin?
Seskin works in Intake
Hernandez in FSU Different units.
Will Brahman support Vereen?
notice the trend here...what qualifications do you run on when you have 6 yrs...oh yea hey I'm Hispanic and my opponent is Anglo...bc after all apparently that's been the vogue thing for the last 10 yrs in Miami...unqualified Hispanic against excellent over-qualified Anglo...its shameful and a disgrace to Miami and the Hispanic and Cuban community that Anglo's are being targeted especially great ones, someone has to man-up and change the qualifications to run for judge
......
Rod Vereen is a great attorney and a great guy. It will be tough to beat Rundle but at least we know he can try a case.
Don't discriminate against the lawyers who go to FSU Cap. You know all of the hardest working, best and brightest prosecutors go there to learn the ins and outs of filing ahd handling complex cases. They earn dog year's of experience in that unit (one year there equals seven years anyone else).
LOL.
BTDT
PS----remember when EVERY prosecutor had to rotate through there?
All it takes to be a judge in Dade County is 5 years in the bar, a Hispanic surname and Hector Lombana giving you his blessing. It is a crying shame.
THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:
TO 8:14 am
Mr. Lombana's firm has donated $250to Ms. Brinkley's campaign. Also, Gonzalo Dorta, another mover and shaker in the Hispanic community, has donated $1,000; $500 individually and another $500 from his firm.
Cap Out ......
The Captain Reports:
BTDT:
Boy do I ever remember thoses times.
Cap Out....
The Captain Reports:
to 12:31 AM
Get some sleep. Last I checked, Mr. Hernandez, the six year attorney, filed against Tanya Brinkley, who I believe is black.
Cap Out .....
The Captain Reports:
ON THE BRINKLEY V. HERNANDEZ RACE ....
Mr. Hernandez, the six year veteran of the State Attorney's Office, may just be smarter than all of us put together.
In the next two weeks, Governor Scott will name a new County Court Judge from the list of five names that includes Tonya Brinkley.
If she gets the call from Gov. Rick, then Hernandez wins in a walkover. No money spent, no campaigning, nada.
Pretty clever for an attorney that has been at it for just six years.
Cap Out .....
The Captain reports:
Developing story .....
There are several candidates that have NOT qualified by paying their qualifying fee yet. We will look at some of those races over the next 24 hours.
CHARLIE JOHNSON V. RICK YABOR
Mr. Yabor has not yet qualified. Has he decided to switch races ans take on a different incumbent Judge. Just ask Judge Don Cohn, if you think ANY of the incumbents are sleeping easy right now. The answer is an emphatic NO.
Readers please keep that information flowing to me by emailing me privately at:
CAPTAIN4JUSTICE@GMAIL.COM
Cap Out .....
Watching sitting Judges fight it out with others is almost as good the Hunger Games!
Instead of this silly, catty gossip, why don't you post about the passing of Judge Esquiroz?!
Things we've learned from the financial reports:
Andy Hague owns an island in the Bahamas.
Michael Hanzman doesn't know hot to fill out a financial disclosure, or is to arrogant to care to do it right.
Why does Dennis Murphy not yet have an opponent? He's raised 20k and has no real money to put into his campaign?
Alex Labora makes 14k a year. What a pay raise being a judge would be!
8:14 here, I am not suggesting Captain that Hector doesn't support non-Hispanic candidates. But I was speaking in general. I don't know much about Mr. Hernandez or Brinkley for that matter. But I do know that too many Hispanic judges have gotten on the bench through Hector's consent which did not have the requisite experience, temperament and legal knowledge. The only Anglo Judge that I can think of who is even remotely similar to that description if Glick.
RIP Margarita
Sad to announce the passing of Judge Margarita Esquiroz. A truly wonderful person.
The Captain Reports:
Very Sad News ......
We have been informed of the death of Judge Margarita Esquiroz. She retired in September of 2010 and has been bravely battling cancer for some time now.
Our prayers go out to her family in this difficult time.
Cap Out .....
This was my post from two years ago:
THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:
LATE BREAKING NEWS .....
So you want to be a Circuit Court Judge .....
Judge Margarita Esquiroz has announced her retirement from the Circuit Court bench. She was the first female Hispanic Judge in Florida. She was appointed to the bench in 1979 and won her only contested election to the Circuit Court bench in 1984 when she garnered 57% of the vote and beat Eli Breger and Joseph Nazzaro.
The JNC is accepting applications with a deadline of August 9, 2010.
Cap Out .....
Tuesday, July 13, 2010 6:38:00 PM
Cap Out .....
I wonder whether Tanya Brinkley accepts being designated as "Anglo"? Where I come from, "Anglo" has a much more distinct meaning than merely someone who didn't grow up speaking English as a second language.
Hernandez sounds pretty sharp to me. He may triple his salary and get free parking just for throwing his hat in the ring.
The only real "Anglo" candidate on this ballot is Andrew Hague, who I've heard has ancestors tied into the Stuart branch of the British Royal Family. Of course, if Rumpole were to run for judge, he would probably sweep the Miami-Dade County Anglo community voters (all 250 of them), as an authentic Englishman. I've always wondered how Judge Murphy likes being called "Anglo" when his ancestors fought for four hundred years to get out from under the yoke of British rule.
8:24 Your so right Rundle does not stand a chance against Rod Vereen in a Democratic Primary. I'm pulling out my check book. Urging others as well it is time for a change.
I heard all Hernandez does is pre-trial conferences for 3rd degree felonies as he's not competent to do anything else. You would think he would have moved up by now. Judge Marino-Pedraza has been on the bench longer than he has been practicing... smh
IMHO, I don't know what this guy, Hernandez, was thinking. Judge Marino-Pedraza is an excellent judge, to which anyone who actually practices in county court will attest. Clearly, Hernandez is too green to have any idea of Judge Marino-Pedraza's qualifications and performance on the bench these past six years. His decision to make an eleventh hour jump into this seat is a complete mystery. Like Greer Wallace's decision, if he paid for this advice, he was duped.
Hey Don!
Hey Conh!
Sleeping well?
Just relax Donnie. Your judgeship is almost over buddy!
Hope your little white doggie can keep you company during these hard months of agony. Lawyers with no experience cannot get jobs in this economy you know. Guess you got problems and many sleepless nights coming to you!
Post a Comment