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Background on Nov. 3 judicial candidates

Updated: Oct 2, 2020

Here is an article about how Florida selects its judges from Ballotpedia.


See the October Issue of Critical Times for more about the election.


Below are the Nov. 3, 2020 ballot questions, with comments.


SHALL JUSTICE CARLOS G. MUÑIZ OF THE (FLORIDA) SUPREME COURT BE RETAINED IN OFFICE?


Justice Muñiz is a Republican appointed to the Florida Supreme Court in January of 2019 by Governor Ron DeSantis.

From Wikipedia: He's 51 years old.  In January 2001, Muñiz moved to Florida to become deputy general counsel for Governor Jeb Bush. In 2006 Muñiz was the policy director of the Republican Party of Florida. In January 2011, Muñiz became deputy attorney general and chief of staff to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi. In 2013, he was involved in the discussions with Bondi that led her to take no action on consumer complaints against Trump University. In 2014 he represented Florida State University against a lawsuit brought by a student who accused quarterback Jameis Winston of raping her. In March 2017, Muñiz was nominated by President Donald Trump to become the General Counsel of the United States Department of Education. And just this month President Trump included him on a list of potential nominees to the Supreme Court.


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SHALL JUDGE DREW ATKINSON OF THE SECOND DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL BE RETAINED IN OFFICE?


On January 19, 2018, Governor Rick Scott announced the appointment of J. Andrew “Drew” Atkinson to the Second District Court of Appeal. He's 46 years old. 


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SHALL JUDGE MORRIS SILBERMAN OF THE SECOND DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL BE RETAINED IN OFFICE?


In 2001 Governor Jeb Bush appointed Morris Silberman to the Court of Appeal. He received his J.D. degree from the University of Florida College of Law in 1982.


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SHALL JUDGE DANIEL H. SLEET OF THE SECOND DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL BE RETAINED IN OFFICE?


Sleet began his career in 1987 as an assistant state attorney for Hillsborough County. In 1991, he joined the firm of Barr, Murman, Tonelli, Slother & Sleet, P.A. He left the firm in 2006 when was appointed as a unified family court judge of the 13th Judicial Circuit Court by Governor Jeb Bush. In 2012, he was elevated to the appellate court by Governor Rick Scott.


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SHALL JUDGE ANDREA TEVES SMITH OF THE SECOND DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL BE RETAINED IN OFFICE?


On January 7, 2019, Governor Rick Scott appointed Judge Smith to the Second District Court of Appeal. She began her service on February 1, 2019. 




More on the selection of Judges here from Adam Terbrugge.

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SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT, GROUP 1


Steven W. Horton's candidate statement is HERE. He's a Republican who served for 28 years in the Navy's JAG Corps and then with Boeing. There he was involved in the leadership of the Boeing Company’s cleanup of Santa Susana Field Laboratory (rocket test site and the Department of Energy’s nuclear site in SoCAL), as well as the Duwamish River Superfund Site in Seattle.


Sean Patton is a biologist. His website is HERE. Sean is a biologist from Sarasota's New College of Florida who runs the habitat restoration company Stocking Savvy LLC. He is also working on the Sarasota Manatee Ecoflora Project which is sponsored by the New York Botanical Garden at Selby Gardens to help catalog plants throughout our counties. Sean has spent years working on restoring habitat, fighting invasive species, and keeping our water clean and his company is part of the Science and Environment Council where he works with our community to protect our environment. He regularly works with horticulturists, educators, and the public to protect our environment, our agriculture, and our way of life.


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