QUALIFYING WEEK HAS ENDED ..... YOUR WINNERS & CONTESTED RACES .......

 

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

QUALIFYING WEEK HAS ENDED ..... YOUR WINNERS & CONTESTED RACES*

In Circuit Court, four Incumbent judges drew opponents this year while 19 Incumbent judges were re-elected without a challenger.  In County Court, three Incumbent judges drew opposition and 12 Incumbents were re-elected without anyone filing against them. 

And congratulations to Judge-Elect Marcus Bach Armas who was first to file in the open seat vacated by retiring Judge Edward Newman. Bach Armas did not draw an opponent and he can now turn in his season tickets to the Dolphins front office and exchange those seats for an aqua and orange judicial robe. How fitting that Judge Newman, an offensive lineman, who played in three Super Bowls with the Miami Dolphins, winning one (Super Bowl VIII over the Vikings), is being replaced by the senior counsel for the team he played with for 12 years. Thank you Judge Newman for your 28 years of service to the citizens of Miami-Dade County.

As an added bonus to getting re-elected, your Circuit and County Court judges are expecting a very nice bump in their salaries come July 1. That presumes that Governor DeSantis does not issue a line item veto on the amounts recommended in the Budget bill. 

Under the new budget, effective July 1, a circuit court judge’s salary would increase from $165,509 to $182,060, and a county court judge’s salary would rise from $156,377 to $172,015.

CIRCUIT COURT

CONTESTED CIRCUIT COURT RACES:

Group  3 

Lody Jean (I)
Teressa Maria Cervera

Group  20

Robert T. Watson (I)
Brenda Gitchev Guerrero

Group  34

Mark Blumstein (I)
Ariel Rodriguez

Group  52

Oscar Rodriguez-Fonts (I)
Jason Bloch

Congratulations to the following 19 judges who have earned another six years on the CIRCUIT COURT bench:

Group  4        Christina Marie DiRaimondo (I)

Group  6        Laura Shearon Cruz (I)

Group  9        Marcia del Rey (I)

Group  10 Scott M Bernstein (I)

Group  12 Bertila Ana Soto (I)

Group  16 Tom "Tomas" Rebull (I)

Group  26 William I. Altfield (I)

Group  28 Jennifer D. Bailey (I)

Group  32 Barbara Areces (I)

Group  39 David H Young (I)

Group  40 William Thomas (I)

Group  41 Milton "Milt" Hirsch (I)

Group  45 Samantha Ruiz Cohen (I)

Group  46 Ramiro C. Areces (I)

Group  59 Nushin G. Sayfie (I)

Group  62 Gina Beovides (I)

Group  63 Marlene A. Fernandez-Karavetsos (I)

Group  64 Zachary N. James (I)

Group  74 George "Jorge" A. Sarduy (I)

COUNTY COURT

CONTESTED COUNTY COURT RACES:

Group 05

Fred Seraphin (I)
Renier Diaz de la Portilla

Group 19     

Jeffrey M. Kolokoff (I)
Lissette De La Rosa 

Group 42    

Scott Janowitz (I)
Alicia Garcia Priovolos

Congratulation to the following 10 judges who have earned another six years on the COUNTY COURT bench along with Judge-Elect Bach Armas who avoids a contested election:

Group 03        Ayana Harris (I)

Group 07        Marcus R. Bach Armas (OPEN SEAT - JUDGE NEWMAN RETIRING)

Group 08        Carlos H. Gamez (I)

Group 11        Michaelle Gonzalez-Paulson (I)

Group 13        Elisabeth Espinosa (I)

Group 15        Linda Melendez (I)

Group 23        Carroll Kelly (I)

Group 27        Miesha Shonta Darrough (I)

Group 28        Cristina Rivera Correa (I)

Group 35        Chiaka Ihekwaba (I)

Group 39        Julie Harris Nelson (I)

Good luck to all of the candidates. Enjoy your long, hot summer trekking your way from Florida City north to Aventura and from Miami Beach west to Sweetwater and all points between. Enjoy every pancake breakfast, medianoche sandwich for lunch, and turkey and mashed potato dinner on the way.

The primary election takes place on Tuesday, August 24, 2022.

 *We apologize if there were any last minute filings that we missed but this was pre-scheduled due to circumstances not under our control; (conflict in schedule - as I am in trial).

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

JUDICIAL ELECTIONS 2018 - EARLY VOTING BEGINS: PART ONE - CIRCUIT COURT

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

JUDICIAL ELECTIONS 2018 ..... EIGHT CONTESTS .....

Voters will go to the polls on Tuesday, August 28^th to elect eight new judges in Miami-Dade County, three Circuit and five County Court seats. But, instead of waiting until election day to vote, you have two other options. First, you can do what THE CAPTAIN does - order an absentee ballot and vote from the comfort of your kitchen table; bonus - postage is free. Or, beginning today, you can hit one of 19 early voting locations and you should benefit from the shorter lines.

Here is the ballot the voters of Miami-Dade will see for the eight contested judicial elections:

CIRCUIT COURT　

GROUP 8

This contest pits the only incumbent who drew opposition in the 2018 election against an attorney from the largest insurance defense firm in the State of Florida, Cole, Scott & Kissane.

Elisabeth Espinosa - she worked as an Assistant State Attorney in Tampa for six years before joining CSK in 2014. She handles the defense of insurance claims. Her firm appears before Judge David Miller regularly. When Espinosa filed against him, CSK filed Motions to Recuse Miller in all of their cases where he was the judge. Miller denied the Motions and CSK appealed those denials to the 3^rd DCA. The 3^rd affirmed Miller. Espinosa has raised $105,000 from some 320 contributors; she also kicked in $25,000 of her own money.

David Miller - INCUMBENT - he first won election in 2000 defeating Arthur Spiegel and David Peckins (in a runoff). In 2012, his last election, he soundly defeated Mauricio Padilla with 62% of the vote. Miller is known throughout the courthouse circles to be a tough no nonsense judge. In criminal court he gained a reputation for tough sentencing. In civil court, he in known as one of the hardest working judges on the bench, showing up to work at 6 AM. Miller has raised $289,000 from 659 contributors and loaned his campaign an extra $51,000.


GROUP 14 (OPEN SEAT - Judge Cindy Lederman retiring)

The only three person contest, this seat could end up in a runoff if no candidate garners 50% plus one vote. The runoff would take place during the November general election.

Vivianne del Rio - she is an ASA and has been with the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office (SAO) for her entire 26 year career. Since 2012, she has headed the Post Conviction Unit and she reviews claims of actual innocence. Del Rio has raised $110,000 from 261 contributors and loaned her campaign $53,000.

Renee Gordon - she is an Assistant Public Defender (APD) and has spent her entire 22 year career at the Miami-Dade Public Defender’s office, part of that time as a contract attorney for the office. She has devoted much of her career to bettering the juvenile justice system including by managing the Miami Halfway House and as a participant in the Dept of Juvenile Justice’s Quality Assurance Program. Ms. Gordon ran for an open Circuit Court seat in 2016 in a four person race eventually won by Mark Blumstein. She missed out on the run-off by a mere 1,737 votes. She has raised $103,000 from 471 donors and she has kicked in $47,000 of her own money.

Louis Martinez - he began his law career in Chicago spending six years with the Cook County SAO. He spent his next five years working in Miami for the Office of the Attorney General, most of that time with the Medicaid Fraud Unit. Since 2007 he has been in private practice concentrating in the areas of administrative and criminal law. He is also Of Counsel to Diaz Reus & Targ. Also, since 2008, Martinez has been a member of the Miami Dade Expressway Authority including acting as its Chairman from 2015-2017. He has raised $56,000 from 117 contributors and loaned his campaign $30,000.


GROUP 25 (OPEN SEAT - Judge Dennis Murphy retiring)

Yery Marrero - she spent the first ten years of her career as an APD with the Miami-Dade PD. In 2000, she went into private practice forming Marrero Bozorgi where she has continued in the field of criminal defense law for the past 18 years. She has also served as a Traffic Court Magistrate. She has raised $89,000 from 292 donors and added $105,000 of her own money.

Joe Perkins - he has been an attorney for more than nine years and works for the law firm Garbett, Allen & Roza. His practice is in the area of complex commercial litigation, with an emphasis on representing small and large businesses, banks and financial institutions, and governmental entities, including the FDIC. He has represented individuals who are victims of fraud, the State of Florida, Department of Financial Services seeking to recover from insurance company executives accused of fraud, and financial institutions seeking to recover loss caused by bank fraud, among other experience. He has raised $82,000 from 153 contributors and kicked in $5,000 of his own money.

So, readers, two questions: 1} Who will you be voting for; and 2} Who do you think will win?

COMING TUESDAY, COUNTY COURT .......

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