GOV. SCOTT APPOINTS THREE NEW CIRCUIT COURT JUDGES .......

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

BREAKING NEWS:

AND YOUR THREE NEWEST CIRCUIT COURT JUDGES ARE ......

Today, Governor Rick Scott announced the appointment of three new Circuit Court judges to replace Judges Bagley, Marin, and Zabel.

JUDGE DAWN DENARO. She has been a member of The Florida Bar for 25 years. She is a former ASA (18 years) and current County Court Judge. She was first appointed by Scott in 2011 to the County Court. She was elected in 2012 without opposition and was up for re-election this year. She again drew no opposition. She fills the vacancy created when Judge Jerald Bagley resigned.

JUDGE ANDREA RICKER WOLFSON. She has been a member of The Florida Bar for 17 years. She is a former ASA (9 years) and current County Court Judge. She was first appointed by Governor Crist in 2010 to the County Court. She was elected in 2012 when she defeated Greer Elaine Wallace. She was up for re-election this year and she drew no opposition. She fills the vacancy created when Judge Antonio Marin resigned.

JUDGE RENATHA FRANCIS. She has been a member of The Florida Bar for 7 years. She previously worked as a staff attorney for the First DCA and then as an associate at Shutts & Bowen. She was first appointed by Governor Scott to the County Court only ten months ago, on August 14, 2017. She has not had to face the voters. She fills the vacancy created by the resignation of Judge Sarah Zabel.  I believe Francis becomes the first Jamaican born Circuit Court Judge in Miami-Dade County and she will be the only black female to currently serve on the County's Circuit Court bench; (with the retirement of Judge Teretha Thomas, County Court Judge Tanya Brinkley becomes the only other black female judge in the County out of 123 judges).

This all means that the JNC will be hard at work over the next couple of months as this now opens up three more seats on the County Court bench.

Interesting side note: There were ten names sent to the Governor by the JNC to replace Judges Bagley and Marin. Those appointments were scheduled to take place this week. Of the seven not selected, all of the names (except one) that were sent up just two weeks ago to replace Judge Zabel were identical to those sent up to replace Bagley and Marin. The one new name sent to Scott: Renatha Francis.

Those who will have to try again include: Judges William Altfield, Alexander Bokor, Tanya Brinkley, and Carlos M. Guzman, and attorneys Ayana N. Harris, Julie Harris Nelson, and Luis Perez-Medina. (Carlos Lopez’ name was also sent up but he won election to the Circuit Court when nobody filed to run against him last month).

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

JUDICIAL ELECTIONS 2018 .... MARIN & HAGUE OUT ..... UPDATED

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

JUDICIAL CAMPAIGN UPDATE ... 2018 .....

It has been a busy couple of months since we posted on December 27 and December 28 about the candidates for Circuit and County Court. Several new candidates have filed and many more have  either withdrawn or switched Groups. Here are the highlights from the past three months:

CIRCUIT COURT

In Group 14, Louis Martinez filed on February 6 and Vivianne del Rio joined the Group on March 1. They face Renee Gordon.

In Group 25, "Joe" Perkins, who had filed in Group 79, withdrew his name on March 9^th. He filed in Circuit Group 31 on March 12th; then switched to County Group 18 on March 19^th only to withdraw three days later on March 22nd. The next day he  switched once again and filed to run in this Circuit Group against Yery Marrero.

BREAKING NEWS:

Circuit Court Judge Antonio "Tony" Marin, who was expected to serve out his term in Group 79, suddenly and unexpectedly resigned effective March 9, 2018. As a result, the two candidates that had filed in this Group, Luis Medina and Joe Perkins, were forced to withdraw from the Group as Governor Scott will fill this seat through the JNC.

COUNTY COURT

See if you can keep up with these moves:

In Group 2, Kristy Nunez filed to run on March 20 only to withdraw six days later. Then Rosy Aponte withdrew from Group 32 of the County Court and on March 26^th moved into this Group against Jeff Cynamon.

In Group 18, Betsy Alvarez-Zane joined the Group on March 14^th. Laura Cruz withdrew her name on March 1 and Joe Perkins withdrew his name on March 22. That means that, for the moment, Zane is unopposed.

BREAKING NEWS:

County Court Judge Andrew Hague (Group 21) and I communicated on a few occasions back in December. He explained his three options to me: resign before the end of the filing deadline; serve out his term; or run one more time. Well, he finally made his decision known last week. And it appears that candidate Jacqueline Woodward was smart enough to stay in touch with Hague because on March 23^rd, she withdrew from Group 2 and was the first candidate to file in Group 21. Hague has made his decision and it is to serve out his term and then retire from the bench.

(NOTE: Not only was Woodward the first to file in this now open seat, but in order to scare off any opponents who are thinking about running against her, she plucked down a cool $375,000 of her own money, loaning that amount to her campaign war chest).

In Group 32, Lizzet Martinez filed on February 1. She faces Chris Pracitto.

In Group 33, Madelyn Diaz withdrew on December 29. Mike Mirabal switched from Group 33 to Group 18 to Group 43. That leaves Olanike Adebayo and Eleane Sosa-Bruzon, for now.

In Group 43, Steve Paulson withdrew on March 1. Milena Abreu currently faces Mike Mirabal.

No doubt there will be many more changes before the filing deadline which is on May 4, 2018.

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