THE POLLS ARE OPEN - ELECTION CENTRAL - COUNTY COURT - RUNOFF

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

ELECTION CENTRAL - COUNTY COURT - RUNOFF

The polls open today for EARLY VOTING. Over the next 14 days, you can cast your ballot at any of the 33 locations open daily from 7am until 7pm. To find a polling location, you can go to this link.  If you pass on this opportunity, you must have ordered your Absentee ballot from the Department of Elections, or, you will need to show up to your own precinct on Election Day, Tuesday, November 5, 2024.

The only judicial race facing voters in Miami-Dade County is a runoff in County Court.

Group 29 (Judge Myriam Lehr retiring)

Christopher Benjamin v. Alina Salcines Restrepo

In the August primary, this was a three-person race. Christopher Benjamin received the most votes garnering 98,108 (39%) of the 253,299 votes cast. Alina Salcines Restrepo received 91,044 (36%). Former Judge Scott Janowitz was eliminated from the three-person race after collecting 64,147 (25%).

Christopher Benjamin has been a member of The Florida Bar for 22 years. He is Of Counsel with International Law Partners, LLP., and a panelist with the ADR firm of Salmon & Dulberg. He works in the areas of general litigation and serves as an arbitrator, mediator, and special magistrate. He has been a certified mediator and arbitrator for 15 years and in 2010 he was appointed as a Hearing Officer in the 11th Judicial Circuit’s Traffic Division where he served until 2020. In 2020 (and again in 2022), he was elected to the Florida House of Representatives to represent the people of  District 107.

Benjamin has raised $111,096. Benjamin did not loan his campaign any money. Of note, in his Financial Disclosure, Benjamin lists his Net Worth at NEGATIVE -$292,937.

Alina Salcines Restrepo has been a member of The Florida Bar for 24 years. She has worked in a law firm with her brother who is also a lawyer and she has been a solo practitioner as well. She concentrates her practice in the areas of real estate, probate, criminal, civil, traffic, estate planning, and bankruptcy law.

Salcines Restrepo has raised only $35,014, but she has added $40,000 to her campaign in the form of a loan. She lists her Net Worth at $1,170,733.

The winner earns a six-year term and an annual salary of $186,034.

IN OTHER ELECTION NEWS .....

It looks like a dead heat heading into the final two weeks of the presidential campaign. Seven states will decide the election between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada are the only states polling too close to call. In Florida, Rick Scott continues to hold a healthy lead in the polls over his opponent, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell. 

What are your predictions on the outcome of the Presidential race? Regardless of who is declared the winner, will there be endless court battles in some of these key states? Will any of those cases end up before SCOTUS?

CAPTAIN OUT .......

Captain4Justice@gmail.com

ELECTION CENTRAL - 2024 - COUNTY COURT RACES

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

CAMPAIGN CENTRAL - ELECTION 2024

Today, as promised, we bring you the County Court races.

COUNTY COURT JUDGE:

There are a total of 19 County Court Groups up for election in 2024. With 11 days to go, we currently have three judges who are retiring. Group 4, where Incumbent Judge Robin Faber is retiring, has drawn only one candidate. Group 12, where Incumbent Judge Steve Leifman is retiring, that Group has also drawn only one candidate.  In Group 29, where Incumbent Judge Myriam Lehr is retiring, that Group has drawn three candidates including one who is a former Judge who was defeated in the last election. 

There is one Incumbent Judge, recently appointed Judge Christopher Green, who has drawn one opponent in Group 31.

The other 15 groups have Incumbent judges currently facing no opposition.

Group 04 (Judge Robin Faber retiring)

Michelle Marie Urbistondo 
Raised $54,150 Loan $100,500

Ms. Urbistondo has been a member of The Florida Bar for 12 years. She is a solo practitioner who practices in the areas of civil litigation, focusing on real estate transactions, and marital and family law matters.

Group 12 (Judge Steve Leifman retiring)

Mariano Ariel Corcilli
Raised $43,801 Loan $120,000

Mr. Corcilli has been a member of The Florida Bar for 14 years. He is a member of the Military & Veteran Affairs Committee. He devotes a substantial amount of time to our vets. He formerly served in the U.S. Marines attaining the rank of Sergeant. He runs his own law firm where he concentrates on criminal defense and personal injury cases. He is a former ASA.

Group 29 (Judge Myriam Lehr retiring)

Christopher Benjamin
Raised $32,078 ($5,745 from State Rep election account)

Christopher Benjamin has been a member of The Florida Bar for 22 years. He is Of Counsel with International Law Partners, LLP. and a panelist with the ADR firm of Salmon & Dulberg. He works in the areas of general litigation and serves as an arbitrator, mediator, and special magistrate. He has been a certified mediator and arbitrator for 15 years and in 2010 he was appointed as a Hearing Officer in the 11th Judicial Circuit’s Traffic Division where he served until 2020. In 2020 (and again in 2022), he was elected to the Florida House of Representatives to represent the people of  District 107.

Scott Janowitz 
Raised $1,250 Loan $500

Former Judge Scott Janowitz has been a member of The Florida Bar for 18 years. He began his career as an ASA in Broward. He then joined a law firm before getting appointed to the bench by Governor DeSantis in 2020. He ran for election in August of 2022 and lost to current Judge Alicia Priovolos by 60% to 40%.

Alina Salcines Restrepo 
Raised $9,510 Loan $40,000

Alina Restrepo has been a member of The Florida Bar for 24 years. She has worked in a law firm with her brother who is also a lawyer and she has been a solo practitioner as well. She concentrates her practice in the areas of real estate, probate, criminal, civil, traffic, estate planning, and bankruptcy law.

Group 31

Rita Maria Baez 
Raised $9,500 Loan $200,000

Ms. Baez has been a member of The Florida Bar for 28 years. I was unable to locate any information about her other than she may practice personal injury law.

Christopher Green (I)
Raised $48,803 Loan $58,600

Judge Green has been a member of The Florida Bar for 31 years. He was appointed to the County Court bench in December of 2022 by Governor DeSantis.  He currently presides over civil cases in the South Dade Justice Center. This is his first election. Before his appointment, Judge Green was a trial attorney for 30 years with both civil and criminal jury trial experience.  He started his career as an Assistant Public Defender in Miami-Dade County.  For the next 22 years, Judge Green worked as an Assistant City Attorney with the City of Miami City Attorney’s Office litigation division. 

Group 01 Patricia Marino-Pedraza

Group 02 Kristy M. Nunez 

Group 06 Jorge Perez Santiago

Group 10 Diana Gonzalez-Whyte 

Group 14 Gloria Gonzalez-Meyer 

Group 18 Betsy Alvarez-Zane

Group 21 Jacqueline Michelle Woodward 

Group 22 Linda Singer Stein

Group 26 Maria De Fatima Ortiz 

Group 32 Lizzet Martinez 

Group 33 Eleane Sosa-Bruzon 

Group 37 Yara Lorenzo Klukas 

Group 40 Michael George Barket 

Group 41 Larry King 

Group 43 Milena Abreu

We will continue to monitor both the local election office as well as the office in Tallahassee for any group movement by the candidates as well as any new filings over the next 11 days.

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

ELECTION CENTRAL - 2024 - CIRCUIT COURT RACES

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

ELECTION CENTRAL - 2024

On August 20th, voters in Miami-Dade County will head to the polls to elect several new judges in both the Circuit and County Court. As I have for the past 19 years, your Captain will be on top of all of the races, bringing you the breaking news that our readers have come to expect from your humble Blogger. You won’t get this kind of coverage in the Miami Herald, nor the Daily Business Review, the Miami News (now I’m aging myself), or any other local thread. Thanks to Rumpole and the Justice Building Blog our readers know that they will obtain their best election coverage from The Captain.

Today, we bring you the filings from the Circuit Court.

CIRCUIT COURT JUDGE:

There are a total of 24 Circuit Court Groups up for election in 2024. The deadline for filing is Friday, April 26, 2024. With 11 days to go, we currently have three judges who are retiring. Group 8, where Incumbent Judge David Miller is retiring, has drawn two candidates, and one name should be very familiar to most of our readers as he has been a Judge and ran in two contested elections in the past. In Group 29, where Incumbent Judge Pedro Echarte is retiring, that Group has also drawn two candidates.  In Group 49, Incumbent Judge Terera Pooler is retiring, and only one candidate has filed so far.

The other 21 Groups have Incumbent judges currently facing no opposition.

***In the contested and open races we are providing you with information on how much money the candidates have raised as well as how much they have loaned their individual campaigns.

GROUP 8 (Judge David Miller retiring)

Jason Edward Bloch
Raised $0.00 Loan $575,025

Jason Bloch has been a member of The Florida Bar for 30 years. He spent 20 years working for Miami-Dade County as an Assistant County Attorney. He was appointed to the Circuit Court bench by Governor Rick Scott in 2014. He ran in his first election in 2016 and lost to Judge Marcia del Rey 52% to 48%. He has spent the past seven years working pro bono on legal matters. He ran again for Circuit Court Judge in 2022 against Incumbent Judge Oscar Rodriguez-Fonts. He lost by 1,851 votes out of 262,589 votes; 50.4% to 49.6%.

Bonita Jones-Peabody
Raised  $28,526 Loan $25

Ms. Jones-Peabody has been a member of The Florida Bar for 33 years. She is currently working as an Assistant Public Defender in Miami-Dade County as a supervisory and training attorney. She has been with the office of Carlos Martinez for the past 20 years.

GROUP 29 (Judge Pedro Echarte retiring)

Heloiza Correa
Raised $107,313 Loan $11,000

Ms. Correa has been a member of The Florida Bar for 14 years. She is originally from Brazil. She began her legal career as an Assistant State Attorney in Miami-Dade County working there for nearly four years. She spent three years working for a law firm before opening up her own law office. She concentrates her practice in the areas of commercial litigation, complex business litigation, and construction litigation.

Cristobal David Padron
Raised $2,700 Loan $120,000

Mr. Padron has been a member of The Florida Bar for 12 years. He is a solo practitioner working in the areas of family law, dissolutions of marriage, paternity actions, domestic violence matters, as well as complex civil litigation and appeals.

GROUP 49 (Judge Teresa Pooler retiring)

Marie Elizabeth Mato
Raised $133,884 Loan $10,100

Ms. Mato has been a member of The Florida Bar for 24 years. She has dedicated her entire legal career as an Assistant Sate Attorney in Miami-Dade County where she currently handles the most serious felony cases in the office.

GROUP 2 Ariana Fajardo Orshan

GROUP 13 Jose L Fernandez

GROUP 14 Vivianne del Rio

GROUP 15 Maria Elena Verde

GROUP 24 Mindy S. Glazer

GROUP 25 Yery Marrero

GROUP 31 Carlos Lopez

GROUP 36 Lisa Sharon Walsh

GROUP 42 Miguel M. de la O

GROUP 43 Ellen Sue Venzer

GROUP 47 Maria de Jesus Santovenia

GROUP 53 Jason Emilios Dimitris

GROUP 54 Antonio "Tony" Arzola

GROUP 56 Javier A Enriquez

GROUP 58 Diana Vizcaino

GROUP 61 Christine Bandin

GROUP 66 Lourdes Simon

GROUP 68 Victoria del Pino

GROUP 71 Charlie Johnson

GROUP 78 Valerie R. Manno Schurr

GROUP 80 Marisa Tinkler Mendez

We will monitor both the local election office as well as the office in Tallahassee for any Group movement by the candidates as well as any new filings over the next 11 days.

TOMORROW, THE COUNTY COURT RACES.

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

JUDICIAL ELECTIONS 2024 - AN EARLY LOOK .......

 

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

“The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated”. Samuel Clemens, June 2, 1897

Being that the qualifying period to run for Judge is exactly one year away (May 2024), we present to you the current judges up for re-election and a few candidates that have already filed for 2024.

CIRCUIT COURT

Antonio Arzola

Miguel de la O

Victoria del Pino Filed

Vivianne Del Rio Filed

Jason Dimitris

Pedro Echarte Attorney Heloiza Correa has filed

Javier Enriquez Filed

Jose Fernandez

Mindy Glazer

Charles Johnson

Carlos Lopez Filed

Yery Marrero

Marisa Tinkler Mendez

David Miller Attorney Jason Bloch has filed

Ariana Fajardo Orshan

Teresa Pooler Attorney Marie Mato has filed

Maria de Jesus Santovenia

Valerie Manno Schurr Filed

Lourdes Simon Filed

Ellen Venzer Filed

Maria Verde

Diana Vizcaino Filed

Lisa Walsh Filed

COUNTY COURT

Milena Abreu Filed

Betsy Alvarez-Zane Filed

Michael Barket Filed

Robin Faber Attorney Michelle Urbistondo has filed

Laura Gonzalez

Gloria Gonzalez-Meyer Filed

Diana Gonzalez-Whyte

Christopher Green Filed

Lawrence King

Myriam Lehr

Steve Leifman         Attorney Mariano Corcilli has filed

Patricia Marino-Pedraza

Lizzet Martinez Filed

Kristy Nunez

Maria Ortiz

Eleane Sosa-Bruzon Filed

Linda Singer Stein Filed

Jacqueline Woodward

It is possible that those named by Governor DeSantis as replacements for each of the following judges that have recently retired mid-term will have to face the voters in 2024:

Judge Fine’s replacement

Judge Krieger-Martin’s replacement

Judge Enriquez’ County Court replacement

Judge Hanzman’s replacement (last day was March 31, 2023)

Judge Seraphin’s replacement (last day was April 30, 2023)

Nominees for Judge Fine’s replacement include the following six names. His replacement will be named by DeSantis by no later than May 30.

Christine Bandin

Cristina Correa

Carlos Gamez

Laura Gonzalez

Natalie Moore

Stephanie Silver

Nominees for Judge Krieger-Martin's and Judge Enriquez’ replacements include the following 10 names. Governor DeSantis is expected to name their replacements by no later than by next Friday.

Gilberto Barreto

Heloiza Correa

Rita Cuervo

Kevin Hellmann

Kimberly Hillery

Jennifer Hochstadt

Scott Janowitz

Yara Klukas

Jorge Santiago

Jay Yagoda

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