Today’s entry: I have been on the internet looking for information on the judges up for reappointment. It’s so important and would appreciate any guidance you could provide. Listen to you every day.
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You said you were going to cover judicial races, shortly. Will that include information on whether Supreme Court and District court judges shall be retained? Are there groups which track these judges bases on conservative or progressive decisions from which we could make an educated choice? Thanks for any help you can give.
Bottom Line: This is a continuation of yesterday’s Q&A, in which I brought you the background information of Florida’s Supreme Court Justices up for retention. In today’s Q&A I’ll address the address the judges under consideration in South Florida’s 3rd and 4th District courts.
First here’s an overview of how I evaluate judicial candidates in these races...
- I start by seeing if there’s anything specific to them that I’m familiar with that I have had strong feelings about. IE: Court rulings. Next, search for information about them online. This often includes background data such as the political party they may be registered to, associations and background information.
So here goes with a brief overview of each judge:
3rd District:
- Judge Alexander Spicola Bokor: NPA, Appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis in 2020. This is his first retention vote. No partisan profile via Ballotpedia.
- Judge Edwin A. Scales: NPA, Appointed by Governor Rick Scott in 2013. He was retained by voters in 2016. No partisan profile via Ballotpedia.
4th District:
- Judge Ed Artau: NPA, Appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis in 2020. No partisan profile via Ballotpedia.
- Judge Cory J. Ciklin: NPA, Appointed by Governor Charlie Crist in 2008. Has twice been retained by voters. No partisan profile via Ballotpedia.
- Judge Dorian K. Damoorgian: NPA, He was appointed by Governor Charlie Crist in 2008. He has twice been retained by voters. No partisan profile via Ballotpedia.
- Judge Jonathan D. Gerber: NPA, Appointed by Governor Charlie Crist in 2009. He has twice been retained by voters. No partisan profile via Ballotpedia.
- Judge Robert M. Gross: NPA, Appointed by Governor Lawton Chiles in 1995. He has been retained by voters four times. No partisan profile via Ballotpedia.
- Judge Spencer D. Levine: NPA, Appointed by Governor Charlie Crist in 2009. He’s twice been retained by voters. No partisan profile via Ballotpedia.
- Judge Melanie G. May: NPA, Appointed by Governor Jeb Bush in 2002. She’s been retained by voters three times. No partisan profile via Ballotpedia.
You notice a clear theme with all of the district judges. They don’t have direct party affiliations nor have any participated in partisan profiles. This makes it a little muddier when trying to evaluate their judicial philosophy in contrast to most of Florida’s Supreme Court Justices up for retention votes. We also see an outlier in this group. All justices and judges up for retention votes in South Florida were originally appointed by Republican governors save one. Judge Robert Gross. Now, I strongly encourage you to look into the information a bit further yourself. The links included in this story provide extensive background information for these candidates, but in general that’s the lay of the land with these candidates.
Each day I feature a listener question sent by one of these methods.
Email: brianmudd@iheartmedia.com
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