THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:
ELECTION CENTRAL - VOTE TODAY ..... AND WATCH TONIGHT FOR OUR LIVE COVERAGE OF THE RETURNS .....
YOUR WINNERS ....... (Results below)
With a turnout of 19%, the voters of Miami-Dade County returned four incumbent judges to the bench: Judge Lody Jean, Judge Robert Watson, Judge Oscar Rodriguez-Fonts, and Judge Fred Seraphin.
Three new judges were elected tonight including: bankruptcy attorney Ariel Rodriguez beat back Incumbent Judge Mark Blumstein; insurance defense attorney Lissette De La Rosa ousted Incumbent Judge Jeffrey Kolokoff; and Assistant State Attorney Alicia Garcia Priovolos bested Incumbent Judge Scott Janowitz.
Some observations:
It was satisfying to see that candidates Teressa Tylman (Cervera) and Renier Diaz de la Portilla (DLP) got their just desserts. Both of them were crushed by their opponents. Tylman was called out by this Blog for playing the Name Game while DLP should be ashamed for the hit pieces that were mailed out by a PAC directly associated with him. We suggest that DLP resign his membership from FACDL-Miami and go back to law school and retake Crim Law and Con Law and re-learn the term "presumption of innocence". DLP really needs to consider not running for office anymore. You are really bad at it having lost your last four campaigns.
Judge Lody Jean is off to a great start in her new career as a Circuit Court Judge and we wish her the best in her six year term.
Judge Fred Seraphin has regularly been criticized on this Blog for his judicial demeanor. He should learn from his mistakes and be better for what likely will be his last six year term on the bench.
Judge Oscar Rodriguez-Fonts beat a tough opponent in former Judge Jason Bloch. This was the closest contest of the evening with ORF winning by a mere 1,862 votes. This is Bloch's second loss in a Circuit Court race. ORF should think about some of the extreme positions that the Christian Family Coalition (CFC) stands for before he goes after their endorsement again. We take Judge Rodriguez-Fonts at his word that his personal beliefs do not enter into his decision making from the bench.
Having an Hispanic name does not guarantee one a victory - Judge Watson was returned to the bench over his opponent Brenda Guerrero. Judge Jean beat a Cervera; Judge Seraphin beat DLP.
One could argue that having an Hispanic name didn't hurt Ariel Rodriguez as he sent Judge Blumstein off the bench. Of course the Judge did not help his cause by regularly violating the Dept of Defense rules when he plastered Miami-Dade County with billboards dressed in his Navy dress blues and Navy hat.
It also didn't hurt Lissette De La Rosa. She beat Incumbent Judge Jeffrey Kolokoff in a very tight race winning by only 4,600 votes. We don't know much about Judge-Elect De La Rosa; by all accounts Judge Kolokoff had gotten nothing but very good reviews during his short time on the bench.
As for Judge Janowitz, well, he ran into a buzz-saw. Alicia Garcia Priovolos, a Miami-Dade ASA, was well financed, by all accounts she ran a great campaign, and she was highly qualified. She was the biggest winner of the night winning her race by 20 points.
It is clear that the way we used to see judicial campaigns run, last century, are long past. This is 2022 and there is little doubt that even judicial campaigns, despite the Judicial Canons, will not stop candidates from pulling out all the stops, going right up to the line, and sometimes crossing it, in their attempts to win a seat on the bench.
You can be sure of one thing. We will be there every step of the way. Calling out candidates when we feel it is appropriate. Digging into candidates backgrounds and educating our readers along the way.
We are Captain Justice for the Justice Building Blog.
Captain4Justice@gmail.com
CIRCUIT COURT
Group 3
Teressa Maria Cervera - 43%
Group 20
Brenda Guerrero - 47%
Group 34
Ariel Rodriguez - 51% (135,238)
Group 52
Jason Bloch - 50% -- (130,305)
COUNTY COURT
Group 05
Renier Diaz de la Portilla - 44%
Group 19
Lissette De La Rosa - 51% -- (131,995)
Group 42
Alicia Garcia Priovolos - 60%
There are a total of seven contested judicial races on the ballot in Miami-Dade County, four in Circuit Court and three more in County Court. Qualifying day was on April 29 and for the past 116 days, the candidates have been criss-crossing the county attending Judicial Candidate Forums (all except for Tessa Tylman) and making speeches at these Forums (all except for Tessa Tylman), and promoting their sense of justice, promising to enforce the language contained in the Constitution and the laws of the State of Florida (all except for Renier Diaz de la Portilla).
There have been numerous JQC and Bar Complaints filed against Ms. Tylman, Mr. Diaz de la Portilla, and Judge Blumstein, for their campaign tactics; a scathing letter was written from the Watson camp to his opponent Brenda Guerrero over her campaign literature; a brouhaha developed between Judge Oscar Rodriguez-Fonts and his opponent Jason Bloch - Rodriguez-Fonts for his appearance at a Christian Family Coalition (CFC) breakfast and Bloch for a text message accusing his opponent of certain things. There have been accusations of playing The Name Game, with candidate Teressa Maria Tylman changing her name to Cervera, immediately before filing to run for judge; further accusations of Tylman and Diaz de la Cruz targeting the only two Haitian judges on the bench; a nasty hit piece was sent out by a PAC associated with Diaz de la Portilla which included publishing Judge Seraphin’s personal cell phone number and demanding Seraphin release an Arrest report from 40 years ago for charges the Diaz de la Portilla camp knew were never filed; and the endless list seemingly goes on and on.
Of course, The Captain and Rumpole covered it all right here on the award winning Justice Building Blog, breaking several stories before even the Miami Herald, Daily Business Review, and other threads, ran the stories.
So, now it’s up to the voters, who are hopefully just a bit more educated than they were on April 29. And, after the winners are declared tonight, it will be up to The Florida Bar and the Judicial Qualifications Commission (JQC) to sort through the allegedly multiple violations of Bar Rules and Judicial Canons and to determine if there is probable cause to proceed with charges against any of the candidates over the complaints that were filed against them.
Here are the contests to be decided tonight:
CIRCUIT COURT
Group 3
Teressa Maria Cervera
Group 20
Brenda Guerrero
Group 34
Ariel Rodriguez
Group 52
Jason Bloch
COUNTY COURT
Group 05
Renier Diaz de la Portilla
Group 19
Lissette De La Rosa
Group 42
Alicia Garcia Priovolos
A reminder that, in County Court Group 07, the seat where Judge Edward Newman is retiring, only one candidate filed in that Group, Marcus R. Bach Armas, meaning that he was elected unopposed and he will take his seat in January of 2023.
Captain4Justice@gmail.com
39 comments:
I voted LatinX down the line.
Interesting day at the polls today watching Cervera’s even more interesting looking poll workers hand out the Christian Family Coalition voter guide to voters. Guess it’s good to know who the bigots are in the light of day.
Pretty soon at 7:00 on the elections results website, ballots counted will jump from zero to thousands. The only explanation is that it is a “ballot dump” from election stealers. No other explanation…
Down goes Fredo
You are a moron
@703 - "no other explanation." That right there is a vigorous mind at work.
Oh Lordy what RE gonna be Lody!! You go girl!
Statement from the Cerveza Tua campaign.
If the trends hold, and despite the rampant voter fraud we have uncovered , we will not prevail tonight. But the dream lives on. The fight continues and I have some very good news. As of January 1,2023 I have changed my name to Maria Cerveza Tua Trump! I look forward to meeting the voters of Miami Dade as Mrs Trump.
8:16:
Hands down the funniest comment of the year.
Cap Out …..
If De la Portilla cannot win with all his sleazy tactics and endorsements from all the politicians, he will never win an election. He needs to get a clue and stop running for judge. You are unethical and seem to be a slimy character. I'm glad Lody seems to have deservedly crushed her opponent. Maybe Tylman can go find herself some clients and actually work for a change. If her husband is writing her AVVO reviews for her and she is so great, why doesn't his firm hire her? Oh yeah, her resume is not good enough. And she wanted to be a judge!
At a bar in Midtown people are gathering and this is what they are singing
Miami Loves Lody
Lody Loves Miami
Oh Cerveza Tua have a cold one on me
Miami Loves Lody
Lody loves Miami
She'll still be on the bench in 2023
cha cha cha ....
With apologies to the great one Migna and her crew -imitation is the best form of flattery
Live from the bar at Smith And Wollensky's in beautiful Miami Beach, it's the Hanzy and Coco election night special.
Hanzy- If I am Jason Bloch I want my money back. How much did he spend on early voting only to head into election day 50-50?
Coco- It was a lot Hanzy, and he's hurting right now.
Hanzy - But Seraphin is winning and that's nice to see.
Coco- Indeed it is Hanzy.
Hanzy- and of course everyone's favorite Lody Jean is nicely in the lead.
Coco- I voted for her Hanzy.
Hanzy- But there is some bad news for incumbents Coco. Judge Scott Janowitz is a big loser tonight.
Coco- Put a fork in him, he's done.
Hanzy- And Jeff Kolokoff is locked in a tight race. He's in some trouble.
Coco- yes he is Hanzy. Hey- have you tried the Fried Pork Shoulder here? Smith and Wo's make the best I've ever had.
Hanzy- It's delicious Coco. But I'm watching what I eat.
Coco- And speaking of which Hanzy, did you know Nutrisystem has a new 360 sale going on? The same great food, at a new low low price. And mention the Hanxy and Coco show and you're first week is free. Yes Nutrisystem with your first week free courtesy of Hanzy and Coco. And we'll be back right after these words from Krispy Kreme. A delicious donut whenever you're craving one.
Producer...and we are clear.
Coco- Hey whose bright idea was it to put a Krispy Kreme donut commercial right after an f'ing Nutrisystem commercial? Ponderous man, it's ponderous.
I love this Hanzy. The guy is pure class. Why is he on a diet. The guy looks awesome. Didn’t he play Mohammed Ali in the last movie he made pre Covid? Total hunk.
Judge Lody Jean and Judge Robert Watson kept their well deserved seats! Go screw yourself you stupid, moronic person--- Tylman, who wants to call herself Cervera! Along with her husband, Cervera, go be a bigot somewhere else! I outed you, you bigot! I will make sure that the clients who want to hire your firm, do not do so because of your bigotry! Lody deserves every single vote that she got tonight. She is an awesome human being and a great judge! Stupid people voted for Tylman, someone who cannot even speak in public, nor can she sustain herself as a lawyer in private practice! Maybe you should eat some humble pie and learn how to be a lawyer, before you challenge someone who does well for our community, you POS Tylman!!!
Great job Captain, Thank you.
Thank you Captain & Rumpole for exposing Tylman Cervera and DLP for the racist frauds that they are. Had your blog not done so, the results may have been different. Going forward, any judicial candidates who comes near Antonio Verdugo of the Christian Family Coalition is asking for a lot of headaches and trouble. Rodriguez-Fonts is the best example. Rodriguez Fonts was expected to win comfortably, until you Captain, revealed that he had attended just one of their breakfasts.
Good! Maybe Renier will slink back under his rock now. Unethical little weasel.
Agreed. My candidate was winning until the deep state fraudulently changed the votes with ballot dumps throughout the night
Love the Hanzy and Coco reference to the infamous Kasey Kasem “ponderous “ radio outtake. “You can’t go into an f’ing up tempo song when I am doing a damn death dedication. Ponderous man. Ponderous. “.
Uncle Neil Rodgers used to play it all the time.
Who ever writes Hanzy and Coco is a genius.
Next FACDL Board meeing: I make a motion that Diaz de la Portilla have his membership revoked for the way he ran that campaign. Yes, that motion is in the works.
From the Maria Cerveza Tua campaign.
To all media. Immediate release.
We are deeply concerned that a computerized election systems reports NO results all day and then mysteriously at 7pm reports a lot of results. And then more concerting after the ballots are closed the results trickle out. Why can’t the results be reported as they come in? Think about it. When I go on my Amazon account under my new name Maria Cerveza Tua Schwartz Trump and order shampoo I get an IMMEDIATE confirmation. Because it’s done by a computer duh. When I voted in Little Haiti where I spent a lot of youth attending the Emmanuel Church because I was raised in the Haitian Church AND Jewish Religion by the way - my vote should have appeared right away on a total. But NO. Apparently someone is watching all the votes and then someone decides which votes to release and when.
I am retaining the elite strike force headed by the great lawyer Rudy Giuliani to seize all ballots and voting machines. These questions need to be answered. And why when I asked for the voting software was I told Miami uses ballot software from NORTH KOREA ? Why do Miami voting machines say “Proudly made in Odessa Russia and a gift from President Putin to the people of Miami”? On 5e back ?
Why when I called the Miami Election Office was I put on hold for ten minutes and then the person who answered the phone at 2pm said he was sorry but he was checking on how the Lody Jean votes were being apportioned in Aventura precincts ?
STOP THE STEAL
MARIA CERVEZA TUA SCHWARTZ TRUMP.
Love this. All true. I got a ballot in Russian Cryllic. The person who handed it to me said “woops you weren’t supposed to get that ha ha. That’s the master ballot that is sent to. Is cow for approval. “. That worried me
You may think that your anti-Christian bias is attractive, but it is only attractive to a few. How dare you suggest that a judicial candidate not appear before any group. The fact that you do not approve of all of the positions of the group he appeared before is no reason to trash him with your unctuous, self-important bias. The most fascinating things about you progressives is your intolerance for any opinion but your own, and your belief that it is the only opinion and that you can break any rules, lie as much as you want publicly, but then rest on the laurels of your sanctimony and correctness.
Finally, Judge Seraphin can be tough, but he is usually tough on young Black men who do not get it. He wants them to succeed, and knows the pressures they are under, and talks to them directly, and after all, most of them do not have the luxury of a cabin in the mountains of the West.
Why is Renier a guest co-host this week? Where did Coco go?
Renier is a bit stiff compared to Coco. All Renier talks about are campaign antics and dirty tricks. Coco loves to talk about single life as a divorced man. Wow. I wish I was single.
Did Coco really date famous models, actresses and beautiful European royalty?
804 am. Turning the tables. RDLP hereby announces his candidacy for the presidency of FACDL miami. Stop this. I sense of presumed innocent and let the police do their work. Defund the defense. Hold judges accountable for every person released on bind and eBay acquittal. Enough is enough.
Great reporting Captain and Rumpole. The outcome of this election shows that if you treat people(including attorneys in your courtroom) with respect, the legal community will rally behind you. Blumstein did not treat those who practice before him with respect and that is why he was the first to get opposition and why he lost, despite his misleading billboards and signs. ORF is a humble hard working judge and treats everyone in his courtroom with respect. Whether it is a pro se or hot shot attorney like Rumpole. Bloch should have picked the race with the open seat and instead chose a well liked hard working incumbent. He knows first hand what it felt like to have someone do that to him, yet still chose that route. Like ORF, Lody Jean is a hard working good judge who had the support of the entire legal community. Tylman thought she didnt need the support from the attorneys and didnt have to speak in public. She underestimated the support Lody Jean would get. Congrats to those who won and i hope those who didnt learned from their mistakes.
8:42, It's not an anti-Christian bias.
It's an anti-bigotry bias.
Look up the Tolerance Paradox sometime and you'll see that it's necessary and not sanctimonius to call out those who take actions to hurt others.
The Hanzy and Coco riff has jumped the shark even worse that the Shumie. To quote Billy Crystal - "it's not fun; it's not funny."
Although in fairness the Casey Kasem reference was perfectly executed.
8:42AM There is nothing Christian about the Christian Family Coalition. That organization is the vehicle Mr. Antonio Verdugo uses to profit from being paid as a political advisor for judicial campaigns via his "Winning Strategies LLC." I noticed that there were candidates that Antonio Verdugo's CFC endorsed who did not mention his endorsement even once during their campaigns. That CFC and Mr. Verdugo's Winning Strategies LLC are going down in flames after last night's results. His endorsement has become the judicial election electrified third rail after last night.
Impeach El APONTE. SHe is as unqualified as Tylman-hispanic last name.
At Vizcaya, poll workers saw the same man come back in a different outfit. They had another older Latino man come who said he had mailed his ballot in but wanted to come vote in person to “make sure”. Both of them were let into the precinct.
Anthony Verdugo
Founder and Executive Director, Christian Family Coalition
—Said in reaction to the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell”: “It is a tragic day for our nation when legitimizing sodomy is preferred over the morale and combat-readiness of America’s military. Sadly, those who voted to repeal DADT don’t know that although they won this battle, they have lost the war. The movement to support our Armed Forces is more powerful than ever and will continue to build strength until we win. This cowardly political betrayal of America’s service men and women will not be forgotten on Election Day. U.S. Senator Bill Nelson’s corrupt vote to repeal DADT attacked our troops and dishonored our nation’s founders. Senator Nelson is now partying and laughing now with the extremist fringe group he pandered to, but the people of Florida will remind him of his unfitness to be their senator should he have the temerity to ask them for their vote in the 2012 elections.”
Well he must Really love breakfast because he was there in 2016 as well. He’s also known to walk around with a “Don’t Fauci My Florida” shirt so keep your distance.
After the Becker & Poliakoff ambush of Judge Lody Jean, I would hate to be a Becker lawyer having a trial or a hearing before any Miami-Dade judge who will be up for election soon. I suspect the Becker lawyers will be walking into courtrooms with that "nothing happened here" nervous smiles.
Rumpole, please change the name of the blog to The Hanzy and Coco Blog.
11:22 am. Hey!
I din do nutthun now. I been good. Workin hard. No issues. Me being I am black and a judge like is hard yo and done real good like well.
From the Sun-Sentinel : "The head of the Miami-Dade County Christian Coalition, a key figure in a battle to repeal anti-discrimination protections for gay men and lesbians, was charged Friday with lying on a petition that helped propel the repeal referendum onto the Sept. 10 ballot. Anthony Verdugo, 40, was arrested by agents with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement...Verdugo was charged with one count of falsely swearing that he had witnessed someone signing a petition calling for the referendum."
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-2002-08-17-0208170208-story.html
Maybe Tylman or whatever name she’s using now, can jump on Gongora’s back so Dumbo can fly them both away. Good Riddance!
Blumstein was such a jerk - he should never have been on the bench.
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