ELECTION CENTRAL ..... JUDICIAL CONTESTS 2026 - PART TWO .....

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

MEET THE CANDIDATES, PART 2 .....

Today, Captain Justice takes a look at two more contested Circuit Court races. One of them—Group 67—features a candidate whose campaign finance reports caught Captain Justice's attention.

CIRCUIT COURT – GROUP 67
(Incumbent Judge Mavel Ruiz)

Judge Mavel Ruiz

• Incumbent Circuit Court Judge.
• Elected in 2014 and has served on the Circuit Court bench since January 2015.
• Re-elected in 2020.
• Former Assistant Public Defender.
• Has tried more than 50 jury trials.

DOLLARS $$$

• Judge Ruiz has raised $247,191 from 492 contributors, the highest fundraising total of any candidate in this year's judicial election cycle.
• She has also loaned her campaign $20,100.
• Captain Justice was unable to locate a financial disclosure reflecting her current net worth. Her reported judicial salary is $200,836.

Destiny Goede Alvarez

• Insurance defense attorney with Goede, DeBoest & Cross.
• Member of The Florida Bar for five years.
• Age 30.
• Practices civil litigation, insurance disputes, condominium, and homeowners' association law.
• Has not tried a jury trial.

DOLLARS $$$

• Alvarez has raised $195,960 from 360 contributors.
• Her financial disclosure reflects a net worth of $391,163, and an annual salary of $222,519 from her law firm.

A Campaign Finance Observation - better said as

WAIT A MINUTE

Here's what caught Captain Justice's attention.

Since 2008, when Rumpole first launched this blog, I have reviewed campaign finance reports for hundreds of judicial candidates. I have never encountered another judicial candidate whose campaign reports reflected this level of Political Committee support.

According to her campaign finance reports, 26 separate Political Committees (PACs) contributed to Ms. Alvarez's campaign. All but one contributed the maximum $1,000 permitted by law. One PAC contributed $750.

Even more noteworthy, nine of those PACs list the same address:

2100 Salzedo Street, Suite 200
Coral Gables, Florida

Captain Justice reviewed the campaign finance reports of all 14 candidates running in this year's six contested judicial races.

Ms. Alvarez is the only candidate whose campaign reflects contributions from this many Political Committees. The only other PAC contributions identified were two law firm PACs—GrayRobinson and Duane Morris—which contributed to Judge Eig's campaign.

The Political Committees contributing to the Alvarez campaign are:

• A Stronger Florida
• America First Florida First PC
• APB for Florida
• By the People, For the People
• Conservatives for a Better Florida
• Conservatives for a Better Miami
• Dade County PBA Political Action Committee
• Dade Families First PC
• Ethics and Honesty in Government
• Fighting for a Better Miami-Dade
• Fighting for Florida's Families
• Floridians for Prosperity
• Floridians for Strong Leadership
• Friends of Sammi
• Miami-Dade Residents United
• Miami Fraternal Order of Police
• Miami United PC
• New Leadership for Miami
• People Above Politics
• People for Accountable Government
• Protect Our Florida Values
• Protecting Florida's Future
• Right Future for Florida
• The Future Now PAC ($750)
• The Right Path for Florida
• The Southern Group of Florida

Captain Justice previously wrote about Ms. Goede Alvarez's multiple name changes in a post entitled "The Name Game."

If you missed it, it is worth another look. Click here to read our previous post.

CIRCUIT COURT – GROUP 69
(Seat being vacated by Judge Richard Hersch)

Rita Baez

• Private practice concentrating in personal injury litigation.
• Member of The Florida Bar for 30 years.
• Has tried approximately 80 jury trials.
• Candidate for County Court in 2024.

In 2024, Baez sought election to the County Court, narrowly losing to Christopher Green by a margin of 50.8% to 49.2%—a difference of just 4,145 votes out of 249,483 ballots cast.

DOLLARS $$$

• Baez has raised $64,016 from 105 contributors.
• She has also loaned her campaign $200,000.
• Her financial disclosure reflects the highest reported net worth of any judicial candidate in this election cycle—$9,110,000.
• She reports annual income of $750,000.

Yaneth del Carmen Baez

• Assistant State Attorney throughout her nine-year legal career.
• Currently assigned to the Human Trafficking Unit.
• Has tried 34 jury trials.
• Previously nominated by the Judicial Nominating Commission on four separate occasions.

DOLLARS $$$

• Baez has raised $60,913 from 203 contributors.
• She has also loaned her campaign $33,500.
• Captain Justice was unable to locate a financial disclosure reflecting her current net worth.
• Her State of Florida salary is $124,798.

Bonita Jones-Peabody

• Private practitioner.
• Former Assistant Public Defender.
• Member of The Florida Bar for 35 years.
• Has tried more than 200 jury trials.
• Candidate for Circuit Court in 2024.

In 2024, Jones-Peabody sought election to the Circuit Court but was defeated by Jason Bloch by a 62% to 38% margin.

DOLLARS $$$

• Jones-Peabody has raised $35,045 from 130 contributors.
• She has loaned her campaign $10,100.
• Her financial disclosure reflects the lowest reported net worth among the candidates in this year's contested judicial elections—$220,181.
• She reports annual State of Florida income of $19,097, together with $41,821 in Social Security benefits.

Tomorrow, Captain Justice concludes this three-part series by examining the final two contested judicial races:

Circuit Court – Group 76

County Court – Group 25

Until then...

CAPTAIN OUT …
Captain4Justice@gmail.com