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

ELECTION CENTRAL 2026 - CIRCUIT COURT .....

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

ELECTION CENTRAL 2026 – PART TWO

CIRCUIT COURT

Three Circuit Court judges are retiring this cycle. There are 29 incumbent judges running for re-election, and only one has drawn opposition.

GROUP 5 (Judge Angelica Zayas retiring)

Alexander Annunziato (in-house counsel, Ascendant Commercial Insurance)

Arthur McNeil (former Assistant Public Defender, Miami-Dade County)

Annunziato was suspended for 60 days by the Florida Supreme Court, effective August 1, 2019. The suspension stemmed from a May 2018 arrest for attempting to purchase $20 worth of heroin from an undercover detective. See State v. Annunziato, Case No. F18-9913 (Miami-Dade County Circuit Court).

To his credit, Annunziato stipulated to probable cause and agreed to the findings. A Consent Judgment was entered with the Florida Supreme Court. He completed Miami-Dade Drug Court, participated in the Florida Lawyers Assistance Program, underwent 45 days of residential treatment, and continues to attend 12-step meetings. He was represented by attorney Richard Baron.

The Consent Judgment can be found here:

McNeil served as an Assistant Public Defender from 2017 to 2024 and is now in private practice. We noted in our research that his current residence is in Broward County. When asked about his plans if elected, McNeil advised us that he would relocate to Miami-Dade County before taking office in January 2027.

GROUP 35 (Judge Orlando Prescott retiring)

Renee Gordon (Assistant Public Defender, Miami-Dade County)

Cristobal Padron (solo practitioner)

Gordon has been a member of The Florida Bar for 31 years. She previously ran for Circuit Court in 2018 against Vivianne del Rio, losing 53% to 47%.

Padron has been practicing law for 15 years and focuses on family law. He ran for Circuit Court in 2024 against Heloiza Correa, losing 52% to 48%—a margin of approximately 9,300 votes.

GROUP 67

Incumbent Judge Mavel Ruiz

Destiny Goede Alvarez (insurance defense)

This shapes up to be one of the more interesting races.

In 2014, Mavel Ruiz unseated incumbent Judge Fleur Lobree with 54% of the vote. (Lobree later went on to serve on the Third District Court of Appeal.) In 2020, Judge Ruiz defeated challenger Marcia Hansen with 55% of the vote.

Now, she faces Destiny Goede Alvarez, a relatively young but well-connected attorney, just over five years out of law school.

We previously wrote about Goede Alvarez in connection with her applications to the Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC) for both Circuit and County Court openings. The JNC nominated her for one of the County Court seats, and her name is currently pending before Governor DeSantis.

Goede Alvarez has been a member of The Florida Bar for just over five years—the minimum qualification for judicial appointment. She earned two degrees from the University of Florida, served as President of Florida Blue Key, and was later inducted into its Hall of Fame. She is also a member of the Federalist Society.

Her experience includes:

• Judicial intern to U.S. Magistrate Judge Amanda Arnold Sansone
• Service in the DeSantis Administration at the Florida Department of Transportation (one year)
• Associate at GrayRobinson (two years)
• Current partner at Goede, DeBoest & Cross (the Goede is John Goede)

THE "NAME GAME" © 2022

We’ve been down this road before.

Time and again, we’ve seen attorneys suddenly “discover” new last names right before applying to the Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC) or filing to run for judge. It’s a pattern. And it’s not subtle.

Most recently, we pointed out that sitting United States Attorney Jason Reding Quinones managed to find an extra surname just days before submitting his JNC application.

Now, we have a new entrant into the Name Game.

Enter Destiny Goede… then Destiny Goede Alvarez… and now, simply, Destiny Alvarez.

Let’s walk through this.

Ms. Goede married Nicholas Alvarez on May 6, 2023. Nothing unusual there. And yes—taking a spouse’s last name is perfectly appropriate.

But that’s not what this is about.

Because for the next year and a half, she didn’t take it.

In November 2024—eighteen months after the wedding—she was still “Destiny Goede” when she and her husband signed mortgage documents on a Miami-Dade property. Professionally, she continued using “Goede” at her father’s law firm through at least September 2025.

No rush. No urgency. No “Alvarez.”

Then came January 20, 2026.

The JNC announces four judicial openings—two Circuit, two County.

And suddenly… the clock starts ticking.

Two days later—two days—on January 22, “Destiny Goede” becomes “Destiny Goede Alvarez” with The Florida Bar. Application submitted. Interview secured. And by March 13, she’s on the short list sent to Governor DeSantis for a County Court seat.

Convenient timing.

But wait—it gets better.

On March 26, just thirteen days after making the Governor’s list, she goes back to The Florida Bar and changes her name again.

This time, dropping “Goede” altogether.

Now she’s simply: Destiny Alvarez.

Three names. Three iterations. All within a matter of weeks—right in the middle of the judicial selection process.

Coincidence?

You decide.

But here’s what we do know: for nearly two years after her marriage, she was perfectly content to remain “Goede.” Only when a judicial opportunity appeared did the name begin to… evolve.

Call it what you want.

We call it the Name Game.

GROUP 69 (Judge Richard Hersch retiring)

Rita Baez (Personal Injury Attorney)

Yaneth Del Carmen Baez (Assistant State Attorney)

Bonita Jones-Peabody (Private Practice, former APD)

Baez has been practicing for 30 years, focusing on personal injury law. She ran for County Court in 2024 against incumbent Christopher Green, narrowly losing 50.8% to 49.2%—a difference of 3,145 votes out of approximately 249,500 cast.

Del Carmen Baez has been an attorney for nine years. She works in the Human Trafficking Unit at the Miami-Dade State Attorney's office.

Jones-Peabody has been an attorney for 35 years. She spent 11 years, from 2013-2024, at the Miami-Dade Public Defender's Office. She is now in private practice.

THIRD DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL

Judge Kevin Emas retired on March 31, 2026. The next judge of the Third District Court of Appeal will be appointed by Governor DeSantis from the following nominees:

Jeffrey DeSousa
Judge Javier Enriquez
Judge Spencer Multack
Judge Joseph Perkins
Judge Thomas Rebull
Judge Robert Watson

CAPTAIN OUT .......

Captain4Justice@gmail.com

SO, YOU WANT TO BE A JUDGE .....

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

YOUR NEXT 2 CIRCUIT COURT & COUNTY COURT JUDGES:

The next additions to the Eleventh Judicial Circuit bench will come from the lists below.

Last week, the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC) interviewed applicants for two newly created Circuit Court seats and two newly created County Court seats.

Following those interviews, the JNC submitted 12 nominees for each court to Governor Ron DeSantis. The Governor now has 60 days to select the four judges.

CIRCUIT COURT NOMINEES:

Notably, 10 of the 12 nominees are currently serving as County Court judges. The two nominees who are not sitting judges are marked with an asterisk.

Rita Cuervo 
Miesha Darrough
Christian Dunham* 
Elisabeth Espinosa
Alicia Garcia Priovolos 
Christopher Green
Chiaka Ihekwaba 
Andrew McGinley*
Jorge Perez Santiago 
Stephanie Silver
Eleane Sosa-Bruzon 
Michelle Urbistondo

COUNTY COURT NOMINEES:

Shawn Abuhoff (Assistant State Attorney)
Destiny Goede Alvarez** (private practice)
Yaneth Baez (Assistant State Attorney)
Natalia Costea (Office of Gen Counsel 11th Jud. Circ., former AAG)
Christian Dunham* 
Kimberly Hillery (Department of Homeland Security)
Yvette Lavelle (private practice)
Andrew McGinley*
Michelle Roth (private practice, former ASA)
Jeffrey Pierce (Assistant United States Attorney)
Patricia Salman (CABA Pro Bono Legal Services)
Alexander Shear (Assistant Public Defender)

*DUAL NOMINATIONS

Two nominees managed to get themselves nominated for both Circuit Court and County Court — no small feat.

Christian Dunham currently serves as an Assistant Federal Public Defender. He began his legal career as an Assistant Public Defender in state court, where he spent six years. Dunham has been a member of the Bar for 27 years, handling both state and federal criminal defense matters.

Andrew McGinley has been a member of The Florida Bar for seven years and currently serves as General Counsel for the Florida Department of Children and Families. Prior to relocating to Florida, he began his legal career in Missouri nine years ago, practicing family law before serving as an Assistant Attorney General in Illinois and later holding several additional legal positions.

BACKGROUND ON Destiny Goede Alvarez:

We previously reported on Destiny Goede Alvarez, who has been a member of The Florida Bar for just over five years, the minimum required to qualify for judicial appointment.

Alvarez earned two degrees from the University of Florida, where she served as President of Florida Blue Key and was later inducted into its Hall of Fame. She is also a member of the Federalist Society.

Her professional experience includes:

Serving as a judicial intern for U.S. Magistrate Judge Amanda Arnold Sansone

Working for one year in the DeSantis Administration at the Florida Department of Transportation

Practicing for two years as an associate at GrayRobinson

Currently serving as a partner at Goede, DeBoest & Cross (the Goede is John Goede)

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT:

Governor DeSantis now has 60 days to select two Circuit Court judges and two County Court judges from the nominees submitted by the JNC.

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

SHAWN ABUHOFF & 31 OTHERS APPLY TO JNC .....

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

SCROLL DOWN TO THE BOTTOM FOR OUR ADDENDUM REGARDING THE 3RD DCA.

SO, YOU WANT TO BE A CIRCUIT/COUNTY COURT JUDGE .....

The Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC) for the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida is entering a busy stretch following the expansion of the bench in Miami-Dade County.

In 2025, Governor Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill 2508 into law, creating four additional County Court seats and three additional Circuit Court seats. Last year, the Governor filled two of the County Court seats and one Circuit Court seat. The JNC is now tasked with interviewing applicants for the remaining two County Court and two Circuit Court vacancies.

THE APPLICANT POOL .....

The JNC received 32 applications, divided as follows:

10 applicants for County Court only

11 applicants for both County and Circuit Court

11 applicants for Circuit Court only

The Commission will conduct interviews on March 13 and may nominate up to 12 candidates for County Court and 12 for Circuit Court.

A NOTABLE APPLICANT: ASA Shawn Abuhoff .....

One name that immediately stands out is Assistant State Attorney Shawn Abuhoff (and not because he is listed first). Abuhoff has applied for a seat on the County Court.

Many in the legal community will recall the high-profile disputes in 2024 and 2025 between the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office and members of the criminal defense bar. Abuhoff was at the center of one such controversy in the case of State v. Pratt.

In that case, the defendant was charged with second-degree murder and represented by Assistant Public Defenders Natalie Ender and Lauren Dawson. During the proceedings, the Public Defender’s Office filed a motion seeking Abuhoff’s removal, alleging that he attempted to intimidate a key witness. Specifically, Ender claimed that Abuhoff and a police officer appeared near the home of witness Bridet Lampley and banged on the window of a car in which she was seated.

The presiding judge, Judge Wolfson, denied the motion.

Shortly thereafter, Abuhoff filed a motion seeking to disqualify Ender and Dawson, Abuhoff wrote in his complaint as to Ender and Dawson that “Their actions of tampering with a witness have made them witnesses themselves and created conflicts that this court can not ignore,” His office also publicly announced that both attorneys were under criminal investigation and that it was “in the process” of determining whether charges would be filed.*

Judge Wolfson denied that motion as well.

*No charges were ever filed against either Ender or Dawson.

FACDL-MIAMI ENTERS THE FRAY .....

The dispute drew the attention of the local chapter of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (FACDL-Miami), which alleged a broader pattern of prosecutorial misconduct.

FACDL cited several incidents, including the removal of ASA Michael Von Zamft from the case of State v. Corey Smith by Judge Wolfson. The organization also publicly commented on actions taken by the State Attorney’s Office in the murder prosecution of OnlyFans model Courtney Clenney and the related charges against her parents.

Regarding the Ender and Dawson matter, FACDL’s Board of Directors issued a statement asserting that the State Attorney’s Office “continues to engage in a pattern of unethical misconduct” in cases where defense attorneys have “done nothing more than uphold their constitutional obligation and duty to defend their client.” The Board further criticized what it described as the unjustified public accusation of criminal conduct against defense counsel and their investigator.

The Miami Herald covered it in July of 2024 in two stories you can read here and here.

Here is a list of the 32 applicants:

COUNTY COURT ONLY

Shawn Abuhoff 
Yaneth Baez  
Johanna Benedi  
Madelin D’Arce** 
Kimberly Hillery 
Yvette Lavelle  
Gustavo Losa 
Marlin Muller  
Jeffrey Pierce  
Patricia Salman 

COUNTY & CIRCUIT COURT

Natalia Costea 
Yenly Dominguez  
Christian Dunham 
Aaron Feuer 
Scott Janowitz  
Jose Martinez 
Andrew McGinley 
Michelle Roth 
Monica Segura  
Alexander Shear 
Annette Strauch 

CIRCUIT COURT ONLY

(All are County Court Judges except for Mrs. Alvarez)

Destiny Goede Alvarez**
Rita Cuervo 
Miesha Darrough  
Elisabeth Espinosa  
Christopher Green  
Chiaka Ihekwaba  
Alicia Garcia Priovolos  
Jorge Perez Santiago 
Stephanie Silver 
Eleane Sosa-Bruzon 
Michelle Urbistondo  

**Destiny Goede Alvarez has been a member of The Florida Bar for five years (the minimum necessary to qualify to be a judge). She has two degrees from the University of Florida, she was President of Florida Blue Key, and she was inducted into their Hall of Fame. She is a member of the Federalist Society.

She was an Intern for Federal Magistrate Judge Amanda Arnold Sansone; spent a year working in the DeSantis Administration for the Department of Transportation; was an Associate at Gray Robinson for two years (is there any law firm more connected to the DeSantis Administration?!); and she is currently is a Partner at Goede, DeBoest, & Cross (the Goede is John Goede - her father we surmise)

Another interesting note: Attorney Madelin D’Arce, who applied for County Court, is also a Partner at Goede, DeBoest, & Cross. 

THIRD DCA JNC

The 3rd DCA JNC has announced that they will be conducting interviews of seven applicants to replace Judge Kevin Emas, who is retiring from the bench on March 31. The applicants are:

Jeffrey DeSousa

Judge Javier Enriquez

Judge Spencer Multack***

Judge Joseph Perkins

Judge Thomas Rebull

Thomas Ward

Judge Robert Watson

Interviews will take place on March 17, and the JNC will nominate up to six of the seven applicants to the Governor's office.

***Judge Multack could have an uphill battle to get the call from Gov. DeSantis. Multack sits in Family Court and, until last week, sat over a paternity case between Arlene Delgado and Jason Miller. The case has already gone through nine judges, and, at one point in the litigation, Delgado moved to recuse Multack from the case, arguing that he was biased for Miller. But recently, Miller decided he didn't like Multack either. 

Miller, according to a post from Above The Law, was all set to be the White House communications director for the first Trump administration when news circulated that he’d had an affair with fellow campaign staffer, Arlene “AJ” Delgado. Delgado has a 7-year-old son that she contends belongs to Miller. 

Last week, Miller went onto X (formerly Twitter) and tweeted (is that still a word), 

"I am actively opposing Florida Judge Spencer Multack's application to get a promotion to Florida's Third District Court of Appeal, and I will be activating EVERYONE I know and EVERY resource I have to stop his bid". 

Multack recused himself four hours later. You can read the story from Above The Law here. Florida Bulldog covered it here.

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