JUDICIAL ELECTIONS 2026 ..... QUALIFYING WEEK .....

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

ELECTION CENTRAL 2026 ... QUALIFYING WEEK

UPDATED AT 2:00 PM TODAY:

No surprises to report other than perennial candidate Renier Diaz de la Portilla did not pay the $7,590.20 qualifying fee in Group 38 of the County Court. Therefore, we extend our congratulations to incumbent Judge Gordon Murray on his re-election. 

We have six remaining contested judicial elections to look forward to this August.

Qualifying for Circuit and County Court closes at Noon today. We will update this post once all final paperwork is reviewed and confirmed. As of midnight, here is where things stand:

CIRCUIT COURT

First, the contested races:

GROUP 5 (Judge Angelica Zayas retiring)

Alexander Annunziato (In-house counsel, Ascendant Commercial Insurance; attorney for 11 years)

Arthur McNeil (Assistant Public Defender; attorney for 19 years)*** (HAS NOW QUALIFIED)

Monica Segura (Senior Managing Associate General Counsel for Universal Property & Casualty;  attorney for 20 years).

GROUP 35 (Judge Orlando Prescott retiring)

Renee Gordon (Assistant Public Defender; attorney for 30 years)

Cristobal Padron (Private practice, family law; attorney for 14 years)*** (HAS NOW QUALIFIED)

GROUP 67

Incumbent Judge Mavel Ruiz

Destiny Goede "Alvarez" (Insurance defense; attorney for five years)

We previously posted about the shenanigans that Ms. Goede "Alvarez" pulled with her multiple name changes, twice in two months, under the title "The Name Game," and we encourage you to read it again. You can find it here. (scroll down to Group 67).

GROUP 69 (Judge Richard Hersch retiring)

Rita Baez (Private practice, personal injury; attorney for 30 years)

Yaneth Del Carmen Baez (Assistant State Attorney; attorney for 9 years)

Bonita Jones-Peabody (Private Practice, former APD; attorney for 35 years)

GROUP 76 

Incumbent Judge Spencer Eig

Yenly Dominguez (Private practice, real estate & estate planning; attorney for 7 years)

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE FOLLOWING JUDGES

Twenty-seven incumbent judges were automatically re-elected after drawing no opposition:

Michelle Alvarez Barakat 
Tanya Brinkley 
Beatrice Butchko 
Carmen Cabarga 
Yvonne Colodny 
Ivonne Cuesta 
Jorge Cueto 
Abby Cynamon 
Michelle Delancy 
Dawn Denaro 
Reemberto Diaz 
Veronica Diaz 
Carlos Gamez 
Stacy Glick 
Laura Gonzalez-Marques 
Carlos Guzman 
Christine Hernandez 
Peter Lopez 
Denis Martinez-Scanziani 
Alberto Milian 
Cristina Miranda
Spencer Multack 
Joseph Perkins 
Migna Sanchez-Llorens 
Laura Stuzin 
Daryl Trawick 
Andrea Wolfson 

COUNTY COURT

Again, we begin with the contested races:

GROUP 25

Incumbent Judge Luis Perez-Medina

Maribel Diaz (Miami-Dade Tax Collector’s Office; attorney for 17 years)

GROUP 38

Incumbent Judge Gordon Murray

Renier Diaz de la Portilla (Private Practice; attorney for 18 years)***

***Indicates that the candidate has not yet paid their qualifying fee.

Nine incumbent County Court judges were automatically re-elected:

Donald Cannava
Betty Capote-Erben
Raul Cuervo
Ritamaria Cuervo
Victoria Ferrer
Kevin Hellman
Joanne Marie Hernandez
Natalie Moore 
Stephanie Silver

Best of luck to all of the candidates. Voters go to the polls on August 18, 2026.

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

QUALIFYING WEEK UPDATE .......

 

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

ELECTION 2024 - QUALIFYING WEEK UPDATE.......

EVEN BIGGER BREAKING NEWS

SCOTT JANOWITZ has withdrawn from the Circuit Court Group 25 race and he will not challenge Judge Marrero. We predict that he will jump back into a County Court race.  

There is a back story. 

BREAKING NEWS  

As we reported last night (read below) Candidate Scott Janowitz has jumped out of his County Court Group and filed against Incumbent Circuit Court Judge Yery Marrero. UPDATE #2. Scott Janowitz has paid his Qualifying Fee. He is locked into Group 25 and will be running against Judge Marrero.

————————

Very little to report after two days. Qualifying Week ends at Noon on Friday. As of 5 PM today, there have been no new candidates entering races for Circuit or County Court Judge.

In the Circuit Court:

All candidates that filed have paid their Qualifying Fee except for two: 

Group 14 - Vivianne del Rio - NOW QUALIFIED

Group 56 - Javier Enriquez - NOW QUALIFIED

In County Court:

All candidates that filed have paid their Qualifying Fee except for:

Group 18 - Betsy Alvarez Zane - NOW QUALIFIED

Group 29 - Scott Janowitz - Moved to Circuit Group 25

Group 31 - Rita Maria Baez - we spoke with Ms. Baez and she has indicated that she will be qualifying in this Group. - NOW QUALIFIED

In Group 29, there are three candidates listed as intending to run in that Group. Two of those candidates, Christopher Benjamin and Alina Salcines Restrepo, have paid their Qualifying Fee. They are each locked into this race.

Candidate Scott Janowitz, who was appointed to the bench by Gov DeSantis in 2020 and ran in 2022 to hold his seat, and lost that seat to current Judge Alicia Privolos (60% to 40%), Janowitz has communicated with me and stated that he will be Qualifying in a Group. Janowitz would not respond to my question as to which Group, which leads me to believe that, given the fact that Group 29 already has two candidates, Janowitz is looking at other Groups and gauging which race would give him the best chance of winning.

Christopher Benjamin has raised $32,078. Alina Salcines Restrepo has raised only $9,510 but has added $40,000 to her campaign in the form of a loan. Scott Janowitz on the other hand has raised only $1,250 and loaned his campaign an extra $500.

Which Group might Janowitz jump into? There are two open seats: Group 4 where Judge Robin Faber is retiring and only one candidate has qualified. Michelle Urbistondo, who has raised $54,150 and loaned her campaign an additional $100,500. There is also Group 12, where Judge Steve Leifman is retiring. Only Mario Corcilli has qualified in that Group and he has raised $43,801 and kicked in an additional $120,000 of his own money.

There are also 15 Incumbent County Court judges and 21 Incumbent Circuit Court judges currently facing no opposition. Judge Christopher Green has drawn one opponent, that being the above-mentioned Rita Maria Baez.

It has also been very quiet in the race for State Attorney where Katherine Fernandez Rundle is still unopposed.

NORTH OF THE BORDER

State Attorney Dave Aronberg, of the 15th judicial circuit in Palm Beach County, is not seeking re-election. So far, seven candidates have filed to replace Aronberg but only two have qualified as of today. They include: Forrest Freedman and Craig Williams. Other candidates who have not yet paid the qualifying fee include: Alexcia Cox, Adam Farkas, Gregg Lerman, Rolando Silva, and Samuel Stern.

Also in the 15th Circuit, Public Defender Carey Haughwout is also not running for reelection. Daniel Eisinger has qualified in that race while candidate Adam Frankel has not yet paid his qualifying fee.

In Broweird, State Attorney Harold Pryor and Public Defender Gordon Weekes do not appear to have attracted any opponents.

THIRD DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL .....

In the wake of the sudden death of Judge Eric Hendon, the 3rd DCA JNC has scheduled interviews this Friday, April 26, with the following persons:

Donald Barrett

Woody Clermont

Margaret Correoso

Angel Cortinas

Kansas Gooden

Judge Spencer Multack

Judge Joseph Perkins

Judge Thomas Rebull

Judge Daryl Trawick

Judge Robert Watson

Judge Laura Gonzalez-Marques

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

ELECTION 2024 - QUALIFYING WEEK .....

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

ELECTION 2024 - QUALIFYING WEEK

Welcome to Qualifying Week. Over the next five days, the candidates who have filed to run in their respective Groups in both the Circuit and County Court will need to formally commit by paying their Qualifying Fee. As always, we can expect to see some surprise candidates jumping into races this week. The question for this week is - WHO ARE THE MOST LIKELY CANDIDATES TO DRAW OPPOSITION? 

(nb edited by Rumpole for blog reasons- see below)

But, before we get to the judicial races, the burning question on the mind of all criminal defense attorneys in Miami-Dade County is - will State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle draw a last minute opponent? Or will she win another four-year term come Friday at Noon?

Fernandez Rundle has raised $317,728 and loaned her campaign an additional $170,000 for a war chest of nearly a half-million dollars. To date, she has only spent $14,872 on her campaign. She clearly does not expect to face opposition in 2024.  Ms. Fernandez Rundle turned 74 years old on March 1st and if she serves out another term, from January of 2025 - January of 2029, she will be two months short of her 79th birthday at the end of her next term. There have been recent calls by many members of the Bar for somebody, anybody, to mount a campaign against her. Recent events that have taken place in Fernandez Rundle’s office, which have been discussed on this Blog, have tarnished her long and dedicated reputation of her career of public service in Miami-Dade County. But, nobody owns an elected office in our County and one must continue to prove that they deserve another term from the voters.

On to the judicial races.

CIRCUIT COURT

A Circuit Court Judge in Florida is currently earning a salary of $191,163. The Florida Legislature approved a raise of 3% meaning Circuit Judges will soon earn $196,898. The Qualifying Fee is 4% of their current salary which comes to $7,646.52

The most vulnerable incumbents likely to face last-minute opposition include one judge who has only raised $34,000 to date, the second lowest total of all candidates for Circuit Court Judge (excepting Jason Bloch) and another who has raised the least amount of money of all candidates with $13,070. She has loaned her campaign an additional $50,000.

Other incumbent judges who have raised less than $75,000 include:

Judge Ariana Fajardo Orshan - $65,450

Judge Mindy Glazer - $63,131

Judge Miguel de la O - $71,149

Judge Javier Enriquez - $73,518

Judge Christine Bandin - $63,850

Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez - $70,965

Which incumbent judges have attempted to bullet-proof themselves from a possible opponent:

Leading the fundraising campaign:

Judge Tony Arzola - $237,325

Judge Lisa Walsh - $230,501

Judge Valerie Manno Schurr - $219,405

Judge Vivianne del Rio - $206,296

Also, someone who may be concerned with drawing an opponent, (I’ll let our readers guess why), is Judge Charlie Johnson. Johnson has raised $151,274 and he has kicked in another $200,000 from his own pocket. He leads all incumbent judges with the biggest war chest. By all accounts, Judge Johnson has done a spectacular job on the bench. He was first appointed to the County Court by Gov. Charlie Crist in 2010. He was elected without opposition in 2012. He served there for five years until Gov. Rick Scott elevated him to the Circuit Court in 2015. Johnson again ran unopposed in 2018 and we certainly hope he draws no opposition in 2024.

COUNTY COURT

A County Court Judge in Florida is currently earning a salary of $180,616. The Florida Legislature also approved a raise of 3% for County Court Judges meaning they will soon earn $186,034. The Qualifying Fee is also 4% of their current salary which comes to $7,224.64.

Incumbent County Court Judges that would appear to be most vulnerable include a judge first elected in 2012 who has raised only $50,100 and another appointed by Governor Jeb Bush to the County Court bench in 2004 who has never faced opposition in three subsequent elections including in 2006, 2012, and 2018 and has raised only $52,850.

Which County Court Incumbent Judge has the largest bank account?

That would be Judge Jacqueline Woodward with $203,410. That amount includes $105,500 of her own funds.  A close second is Judge Lizzet Martinez who has $191,038 in her campaign account which also includes $100,000 of her hard earned money. Finally, is Judge Michael Barket who has $178,268 in the bank including $100,000 of his own money.

If you have a hot tip on a candidate filing, please email The Captain at Captain4Justice@gmail.com.

We will closely follow any breaking news throughout Qualifying Week.

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

Rumpole says- we do not think it is appropriate to name a judge as a potential target for a challenger based on the low amount of money they have raised. Many judges are very well respected and have  decided not to engage in a lot of fundraising. We do not want to put a target on their back, as, believe it or not,  we actually sympathize with many of them as to the stress of this week and do not want to encourage the "rosies" of the world to come out from under some crack in the wall and diminish the judiciary more than it already has been by the name game of Miami judicial politics. So we edited the post because this is our property and we can. 

JUDICIAL ELECTIONS 2022 - QUALIFYING WEEK HAS BEGUN - COUNTY COURT RACES

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

QUALIFYING WEEK - PART DEUX - COUNTY COURT .....

COUNTY COURT

In County Court, 13 Incumbents have already filed in their Groups. Judge Edward Newman, in Group 7, is retiring. One attorney, Marcus Bach Armas, has filed to run in that Group. He has yet to draw an opponent, and Mr. Bach Armas is doing everything he can to dissuade anyone from filing against him as he has already raised $136,154 and loaned his campaign another $21,000.

Three Incumbent County Court Judges have opponents. Judge Fred Seraphin, Judge Jeffrey Kolokoff, and Judge Scott Janowitz.

Here is your current line-up for the County Court judicial races.

Group 03         Ayana Harris (I)

Group 05         

Fred Seraphin (I)

Judge Seraphin has paid his Qualifying Fee in the amount of $6,255.08
He has a net worth of $306,179
He has raised $100 from one contributor
He has loaned his campaign $7,166
He is paid $156,377 as a County Court Judge
He was appointed to the bench in 2001 by Gov. Bush. He ran unopposed in 2004 and unopposed again in 2010. In 2016, Milena Abreu ran against him. Seraphin won 50.16% to 49.84%; (he won by 677 votes out of 210,919 cast).
When I first reported on this election back in January, Seraphin was the only Incumbent who had not yet filed for re-election. He is now in catch-up mode as an opponent filed against him on Monday.

Renier Diaz de la Portilla

Mr. De la Portilla filed in this Group on Monday, April 25 and there are no financial documents on file.
He has been a member of The Florida Bar for 14 years.
He runs his own law practice concentrating primarily on criminal defense. He is also a mediator.
He has been a candidate in numerous elections over the course of his lifetime.
He was elected to the Miami-Dade School Board in 1996 at the age of 25 and he served two years.
He was elected in 2000 at age 29 to the Florida House in District 115 in a special election and he served two years. He ran for re-election in 2002 and lost to JC Planas in the primary, 45-43%.
He returned to the School Board from 2006-2012 winning a couple more elections.
In 2012 he ran in House District 103 and lost to Manny Diaz Jr 55-39%.
In 2014 he ran for Circuit Court Judge against Veronica Diaz and he lost 57-43%.
In 2020, he ran for a seat on the Miami-Dade County Commission, District 5, against Eileen Higgins and he lost 53-47%.
If I forgot to mention any of his elections, I am sure Renier can update me in the Comments section.

Group 07        OPEN SEAT - JUDGE NEWMAN RETIRING

Marcus R. Bach Armas 

Attorney Bach has paid his Qualifying Fee.
He has a net worth of $3,673,240 (plus great Dolphins seats).

His annual salary with the Miami Dolphins is $190,663.
He has raised $136,154 from a total of 217 contributors. 
He has loaned his campaign a total of $21,000
He has been a member of The Florida Bar for 13 years. One year at Holland & Knight, one year as a Law Clerk to Fed Judge Gold, and for the past 11 years he has been with the Miami Dolphins now serving as their Senior Director of Legal & Gov’t Affairs.
I believe he is the son of former County Court Judge Mercedes Bach (1995-2008).

Group 08        Carlos H. Gamez (I)

Group 11        Michaelle Gonzalez-Paulson (I)

Group 13        Elisabeth Espinosa (I)

Group 15        Linda Melendez (I)

Group 19     

Jeffrey M. Kolokoff (I)

Judge Kolokoff has paid his Qualifying Fee.
He has a net worth of $2,182,366.

His annual salary as a County Court Judge is $156,377.
He has raised $40,225 from a total of 74 contributors. 
He has loaned his campaign a total of $325,000
He has been a member of The Florida Bar for 15 years. He was appointed to the bench by Gov. DeSantis in April of 2020 and this is his first election. Prior to taking the bench he was an ASA and then worked for the law firm of Beighley, Myrick.
Judge Kolokoff is clearly trying to scare his opponent into another race. Up until March, he had held zero fundraisers and had raised only $13,325. He finally held his first fundraiser just over a month ago and 50 contributors donated a total of $26,900. On March 30th, Kolokoff loaned his campaign $250,000.

Lissette De La Rosa 

Attorney De La Rosa has paid her Qualifying Fee.
She has a net worth of $543,576.

Her annual salary with Heritage Py. & Casualty is $165,979.
She has raised $56,135 from a total of 81 contributors. 
She has NOT loaned her campaign any money.
She has been a member of The Florida Bar for 20 years. Hard to find out much about her law practice. She appears to have previously worked in the area of Estates and Trusts in the Tampa area. She is currently employed by a Clearwater property insurance company, Heritage Property & Casualty, in their Sunrise office.

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)

Group 42        

Scott Janowitz (I)

Judge Janowitz has paid his Qualifying Fee.
He has a net worth of $425,000.

His annual salary as a County Court Judge is $156,377.
He has raised $18,750 from a total of 36 contributors. 
He has loaned his campaign a total of $1,000
He has been a member of The Florida Bar for 16 years. He was appointed to the bench by Gov. DeSantis in April of 2020 and this is his first election. Prior to taking the bench he was an ASA in Broward and then worked for the law firm of Geyer, Fuxa.
Up until two weeks ago, Janowitz hadn’t even held a fundraiser. He had only raised $2,800 from 6 contributors. He is way, way behind his opponent in fundraising.

Alicia Garcia Priovolos

Attorney Priovolos has paid her Qualifying Fee.
She has a net worth of $1,816,344.

Her annual salary as an ASA is $94,890.
She has raised $61,865 from a total of 135 contributors. 
She has loaned her campaign $50,000.
She has been a member of The Florida Bar for 16 years, all of that time as an ASA in Miami-Dade County. She is married to former ASA and current criminal defense attorney John Priovolos.

You don't want to miss our column on Wednesday - we promise, you won't be disappointed.

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

JUDICIAL ELECTIONS 2022 - QUALIFYING WEEK HAS BEGUN - CIRCUIT COURT RACES

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

QUALIFYING WEEK - UN-MASKED EDITION (Masked, for Rumpole) .....

It comes around every two years and your trusted El Capitan is here to bring you all the news. Qualifying week runs from Monday, April 25 - Friday, April 29 at NOON. Today we bring you the latest in the Circuit Court races.

CIRCUIT COURT:

Elections for Judge in Miami-Dade County take place on August 23, 2022.  Currently there are a total of 23 Groups up for election in Circuit Court.

In Circuit Court, all 23 Incumbents have already filed in their respective Groups. Three Incumbent Judges face opposition. They include Judge Lody Jean, Judge Robert Watson, and Judge Mark Blumstein.

Here is your current line-up for the judicial races. (I) stands for Incumbent

CIRCUIT COURT

Group 3

Lody Jean (I)

Judge Jean has paid her Qualifying Fee in the amount of $6,620.36
According to her Financial Documents, she has a Net Worth of $578,512
She is paid $164,909 as a Circuit Court Judge
She has raised $110,734 from a total of 278 contributors. 
She has loaned her campaign a total of $50,000
Judge Jean is a former ASA. She was appointed to the bench by Gov. DeSantis in April of 2020 and this is her first election.

Teressa Maria Cervera

Attorney Cervera has paid her Qualifying Fee.
She filed to run on April 14 and there are zero Financial Documents in her file.
She has been a Member of The Florida Bar for 11 years but I could not find out anything about her law practice when checking online

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  20

Robert T. Watson (I)

Judge Watson has paid his Qualifying Fee in the amount of $6,620.36
He has not yet filed any of his Financial Documents
He has raised $109,678 from a total of 266 contributors. 
He has loaned his campaign a total of $50,000
Judge Watson has worn many hats. Steel Hector, Holland & Knight, AUSA (for 5 years), Kobre & Kim. He was appointed to the County Court bench in January of 2019 by Gov Rick Scott as one of Scott's last appointments. He was then elevated to the Circuit Court in December of 2019 by Gov. DeSantis. This will be his first election campaign.

Brenda Gitchev Guerrero

Attorney Guerrero has not yet paid her Qualifying Fee.
She filed to run on January 24 and there are zero Financial Documents in her file.
She has been a Member of The Florida Bar for 16 years.
She runs a private practice specializing in Family law. She is a former ASA where she worked in the Child Support Division.

Group  26 William I. Altfield (I)

Group  28 Jennifer D. Bailey (I)

Group  32 Barbara Areces (I)

Group  34

Mark Blumstein (I)

Judge Blumstein has paid his Qualifying Fee in the amount of $6,620.36
He has not yet filed any of his Financial Documents
He has raised $160,263 from a total of 301 contributors. 
He has loaned his campaign a total of $60,000
Judge Blumstein ran for the Circuit Court bench in 2016 in a four way contest. In the primary he came in first ahead of attorney Luis Perez-Medina. In the general election he defeated Perez-Medina 51% to 49%. This will be his second election campaign.

Ariel Rodriguez

Attorney Rodriguez has paid his Qualifying Fee in the amount of $6,620.36
According to his Financial Documents, he has a Net Worth of $1,606,772
He is paid $156,854 by the U.S.D.O.J.
He has been a Member of The Florida Bar for 23 years.
He is employed by DOJ, Office of the US Trustee as a trial attorney in Bankruptcy court.
He has raised $38,542 from a total of 134 contributors. 
He has loaned his campaign a total of $4,833

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  52 Oscar Rodriguez-Fonts (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)

Tomorrow - County Court .....

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

JUDICIAL ELECTIONS 2020 ..... COUNTY COURT .....

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

QUALIFYING WEEK - MASKED EDITION: PART TWO - COUNTY COURT .....

UPDATES BELOW:

BUT FIRST:
Following up on my Friday Blog Post:  Elections Have Consequences: Two New Circuit Court Judges, there were more than a few Comments praising Gov DeSantis’ appointment of Judge Lody Jean. Judge Jean may in fact have been more than qualified to earn the appointment. But Governor DeSantis played the game with loaded dice. First, DeSantis has never named a Circuit Court Judge in Miami-Dade County in less than 30 days before these past two appointments. Now, Judge Zachary James gets named only 14 days after the 12 nominees names arrive on DeSantis’ desk. And 14 days later, DeSantis chooses Jean. Second, DeSantis was very shrewed in making sure he made those appointments before Monday, April 20, 2020. With Judge Jean’s appointment taking place last Friday, her Group 35 seat is now an open seat with her successor to be named by the Governor, instead of by the voters. Same for Judge James' Group 28 seat in County Court. But, Governor DeSantis’ office had to work really fast to pull this off. Judge Jean’s qualifying papers had to be rushed to her by the Department of State. And Jean had to file these papers immediately. Lest anyone doubt that DeSantis wanted to ensure he could name the replacements for the two open seats, the Eleventh Judicial Circuit’s JNC announced yesterday that they were accepting "applications to fill the vacancies caused by the elevation of Judges Zachary James and Lody Jean" with a deadline of May 4, 2020. Now on to the Election Coverage.

Yesterday we covered the races in Circuit Court. Today we turn our focus to the County Court contests. There are three County Court Judges (UPDATE - make that two) that have drawn opposition, while 9 others are currently unopposed. One contender is back for a third try, having previously lost a Circuit Court race in 2016 and a County Court race in 2018.

COUNTY COURT:
Here is the list of nine (9) Incumbents (it was 16 at one point) who are currently unopposed:

Donald Cannava Jr.
Raul Cuervo
Stephanie Silver
Christine Bandin
Luis Perez-Medina
Betty Capote-Erben
Elijah Levitt
Natalie Moore
Victoria Ferrer

In addition, here is the list of seven (7) other Incumbent judges who were facing re-election in 2020. All seven have been recently elevated to the Circuit Court (CC) bench with their replacements to be named by Governor DeSantis instead of the voters choosing.

William Altfield (was recently appointed to CC to replace Judge Rodney Smith)
Laura Shearson Cruz (was recently appointed to CC to replace Judge Rodolfo Ruiz)
Christina DiRaimondo (was recently appointed to CC to replace Judge Diane Ward)
Ramiro Areces (was recently appointed to CC to replace Judge Renatha Francis)
Robert Watson (was recently appointed to CC to replace Judge John Thornton)
Zachary James (was just appointed to CC to replace Judge Jacqueline Scola)
Lody Jean (was just appointed to CC to replace Judge John Schlesinger)

GROUP 9:

Joseph Mansfield (Incumbent) (Q)
- he has not yet qualified and his net worth is $268,909
- he has raised $5,200 from 10 contributors and loaned his campaign $0
- his salary with the State of Florida is $151,822
Miguel "Mike" Mirabal (Q)
- he has qualified; he has a Net Worth of $1,684,634
- he has raised $0 and has loaned his campaign $30,500
- he ran for a County Court seat against Judge Milena Abreu
in 2018, losing that race by 65% to 35%.
- he runs his own law firm, Global Legal, with a salary of $95,750


GROUP 35: SEE ABOVE
As of last Friday, April 17, with the appointment of Judge Jean to the Circuit Court to replace Judge Schlesinger, this seat is now open and a replacement will be named by Gov. DeSantis.  Ms. Fuenmayor now has nine Incumbent judges to choose from as she decides which one to challenge in this year's election. Anyone want to venture a guess as to who will be the unlucky Incumbent?

Lody Jean (Incumbent)
- she has not yet qualified
- she has raised $144,075 from 432 contributors and loaned
her campaign $60,000

Tahya Fuenmayor
- she has not yet qualified
- she has raised $27,775 from 39 contributors and loaned
her campaign $35,000
- she is currently an attorney with Gonzalez & Assoc., where
she handles PIP suits


GROUP 38:

Gordon Murray Sr. (Incumbent) (Q)
- he has qualified; he has a Net Worth of $777,299
- he has raised $67,794 from 227 contributors and loaned
his campaign $25,704
- his salary from the State of Florida is $151,182; he is paid an additional $6,700 from Miami-Dade College

Rosy Aponte (Q)
- she has qualified; she has a Net Worth of $315,000; it was $186,000 in 2018, and only $46,000 in 2016
- she has raised $3,000 from 3 contributors and loaned her campaign $49,000
- she is a solo practitioner with R. Aponte & Assoc. where she paid herself $83,000. She is also a partner in the Felicetti Law Firm where she was paid an additional $120,000
- she ran for a County Court seat against Judge Kristy Nunez in 2018, losing that race by 52 % to 48%.
- she ran for a Circuit Court seat against Judge Oscar Rodriguez-Fonts and Carol Breece in 2016. Ms. Aponte failed to make the runoff as she gained only 26% of the vote in the Primary compared to Rodriguez Fonts (34%) and Breece (40%).

(Rumpole notes: Do not forget to contribute to the Go Fund Me account for Judge Richard Hersch's bailiff Orlando Duarte who passed away last week. See our post on Sunday for more details.)

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

JUDICIAL ELECTIONS 2020 .... CIRCUIT COURT .......

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

QUALIFYING WEEK - MASKED EDITION .....

It comes around every two years and your trusted El Capitan is here to bring you all the news. Qualifying week runs from Monday, April 20 - Friday, April 24 at NOON. Today we bring you the latest in the Circuit Court races.

CIRCUIT COURT:

Will any of the incumbents who are presently unopposed receive a last minute opponent?

Here is the list of 32 Incumbents who are currently unopposed:

Ivonne Cuesta
Rosa Figarola
Angelica Zayas
Jose Rodriguez
Jorge Cueto
Alex Spicola Bokor
Daryl Trawick
Migna Sanchez-Llorens
Yvonne Colodny
Tanya Brinkley
Laura Stuzin
Peter Lopez
Alberto Milian
Spencer Multack
Michelle Alvarez Barakat
Orlando Prescott
Stacy Glick
Dawn Denaro
Cristina Miranda
Abby Cynamon
Marcia Caballero
Martin Zilber
Alan Fine
Thomas Rebull
Richard Hersch
Veronica Diaz
Reemberto Diaz
Carlos Guzman
Dava Tunis
Spencer Eig
Beatrice "Betty" Butchko
Andrea Ricker Wolfson

Here are the contested races and open seat races: (Q next to their name means they have plucked down the $6,427.52 necessary to run for that seat).

UPDATES: AS THE CANDIDATES QUALIFY WE WILL UPDATE YOU WITH NEW INFORMATION AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE


GROUP 37 (OPEN SEAT - Judge Celeste Muir retiring)

Michelle Delancy (Q)
- she has not yet qualified and she has a net worth of $916,640
- she has raised $88,828 from 307 contributors and loaned her campaign $88,250
- she is an attorney with Delancy Law with a salary of $147,000

SHE IS CURRENTLY UNOPPOSED

GROUP 55 (OPEN SEAT - Judge Jeri Beth Cohen retiring)

Olanike "Nike" Adebayo (Q)
- she has not yet qualified and she has a net worth of $39,981
- she has raised $55,431 from 195 contributors and loaned her campaign $1,604
- she is an attorney with the Office of Criminal Conflicts with a salary of $55,478
- she was a candidate for County Court in 2018. She was defeated by Judge Eleane Sosa-Bruzon 56% to 44%

Joe Perkins (Q)
- he has a net worth of $575,000 and he has qualified
- he has raised $127,069 from 135 contributors and loaned his campaign $75,500
- he is an attorney with Garbett Allen & Roza with a salary of $165,000
- he was a candidate for Circuit Court in 2018. He lost his race to Judge Yery Marrero 53% to 47%

GROUP 57 (OPEN SEAT - Judge Bernard Shapiro retiring)

Carmen Cabarga (Q)
- she has a Net Worth of $231,000 and she has qualified
- she has raised $64,906 from 170 contributors and loaned her campaign $145,000
- she took out a HELOC in the amount of $100,000 and borrowed another $45,000, all from Iberia Bank
- she is an attorney with the Office of Criminal Conflicts with a salary of $65,000

SHE IS CURRENTLY UNOPPOSED

GROUP 67

Mavel Ruiz (Incumbent) (Q)
- she was first elected in 2014 beating Incumbent Judge
Fleur Lobree 54% to 46%.
- she has not yet qualified and she has a net worth of $199,459
- she has a salary of $160,688 as a Circuit Court Judge
- she has raised $123,944 from 278 contributors and loaned her campaign $78,000

Marcia Giordano Hansen (Q)
- she has not yet qualified and she has a net worth of $996,788
- she has raised $44,280 from 167 contributors and loaned her campaign $50,200
- she is an attorney with The Hansen Law Firm with a salary of
$50,000
- she first filed to run for County Court Judge in Group 9 against Incumbent Judge Joe Mansfield before switching to this race

Tomorrow - County Court .....


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