Judicial Elections: Candidates Beware

            In recent filings in the Florida Supreme Court concerning the 2008 election campaign of incumbent Circuit Judge Angela Dempsey of the Second Judicial Circuit, the Judicial Qualifications Commission (JQC) alleged that, during the campaign, an advertisement appeared on YouTube entitled “re-elect” Judge Dempsey when she had not been previously elected to the Circuit Court, but had been appointed by the Governor in 2005.  The JQC alleged that the advertisement violated Canon 7A(3)(d)(ii). Inquiry Concerning A Judge, Re: Judge Angela Dempsey, Case No. SC09-1747 (Fla.) “Notice of Charges”, which can be found here.  In a stipulation resolving the matter, “Judge Dempsey acknowledges that use the term “re-elect” was misleading because Judge Dempsey was then a gubernatorial appointee running for election for Circuit Court Judge for the first time....”  A copy of the Stipulation can be found here.

            The action of the JQC in advancing this allegation appears to conflict with substantive election law: “[A] candidate who is presently in possession of an office to which he was appointed and for which he is running for re-election may use the word ‘re-elect’ in a political advertisement.”  Division of Elections Opinion (DE) 01-02.

Prepared by:  Mark Herron