ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Between the Florida Supreme Court, appellate judges, the district court of appeal and seats for county court, there’s a number of ballot questions involving judges this midterm election cycle.
Knowing who to vote for and how to pick the best candidate for you when it comes to less publicized races such as judges can be tricky.
Anthony Brunello, political science professor at Eckerd College, recommends to search the candidates' Florida Bar profiles as well as their campaign websites.
What You Need To Know
- There's a number of judges on the ballots during the midterms
- Elections officials stress researching judge candidates before voting
- The Florida Bar: Search the judges candidates
You can search each candidate or judge on the Florida Bar website, and there you can see the year they were admitted, their education and if they have any disciplinary history.
“Experience does count,” Brunello said. “I think most people want to have a judge in the room who’s seen life a little bit, been out there among people and has seen a lot of cases to know that life is a difficult and complicated place.”
In addition, Brunello recommends to check each candidate's campaign websites.
“You can judge a person that’s in these positions by their associations,” Brunello said. “What organizations do they belong to? What work have they done? It matters, for example, if someone says, 'I’m a member of The Federalists Society,' as opposed to someone else who says, 'I worked for the Southern Poverty Law Center.' One you can guess is a little more progressive, while the other is a bit more conservative.”
Brunello recommends you look critically at the length of time they have served, the type of experience they have (private practice vs. public sector), what type of judicial internships they have had and if they have served for other justices.
He stressed the importance of making informed decisions when voting for judge seats.
“It’s at these lowest levels that are the people who touch us the most closely,” he said. “That’s where we are most affected by their behaviors, so it doesn’t matter, but it’s so easy to overlook.”
Five of the seven justices on the Florida Supreme Court are also on the ballot for a retention vote. Those justices are appointed by the governor but voters decide if they should stay.