Judges 2026 › Florida › Judges on the ballot
Judges on the Florida ballot in November 2026
Florida voters see 23 retention questions, 21 county-level judicial races in the counties we track on the November 3, 2026 ballot in the races The Ballot Brief tracks. Retention questions are a yes-or-no vote on keeping a sitting judge; elected seats work like any other race.
Judicial retention votes: yes or no on keeping a judge
Florida Supreme Court
Carlos G. Muñiz
Retention: yes or no
Justice Muñiz was appointed to the Florida Supreme Court by Gov. Ron DeSantis on January 22, 2019, and served two terms as Chief Justice from 2022 to 2026. He previously was general counsel of the U.S. Department of Education and deputy attorney general and chief of staff to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi; he is a graduate of the University of Virginia and Yale Law School.
What a yes vote does: keeps the judge for another term; a no vote removes the judge at the end of the term.
Florida 1st District Court of Appeal
Joseph Lewis Jr.
Retention: yes or no1st DCA
Judge Lewis has served on the First District Court of Appeal since January 2, 2001, after appointment by Gov. Jeb Bush, and served as Chief Judge from 2013 to 2015. Before the bench he was an Assistant Attorney General and Bureau Chief in the Florida Attorney General's Office; he holds a law degree from Florida State University College of Law.
What a yes vote does: keeps the judge for another term; a no vote removes the judge at the end of the term.
Rachel E. Nordby
Retention: yes or no1st DCA
Judge Nordby was appointed to the First District Court of Appeal by Gov. Ron DeSantis on October 16, 2019. She previously was a partner at Shutts & Bowen LLP and Senior Deputy Solicitor General for the Florida Attorney General; she is a graduate of the University of Florida and Florida State University College of Law.
What a yes vote does: keeps the judge for another term; a no vote removes the judge at the end of the term.
Timothy D. Osterhaus
Retention: yes or no1st DCA
Chief Judge Osterhaus was appointed to the First District Court of Appeal by Gov. Rick Scott on May 20, 2013. He previously served as Florida's Solicitor General and Deputy Solicitor General; he holds a law degree from the University of Virginia.
What a yes vote does: keeps the judge for another term; a no vote removes the judge at the end of the term.
L. Clayton Roberts
Retention: yes or no1st DCA
Judge Roberts has served on the First District Court of Appeal since January 18, 2007, and later served as the court's Chief Judge beginning in 2015. Before his appointment he served as Florida's deputy attorney general.
What a yes vote does: keeps the judge for another term; a no vote removes the judge at the end of the term.
Raymond F. Treadwell
Retention: yes or no1st DCA
Judge Treadwell was appointed to the First District Court of Appeal by Gov. Ron DeSantis on May 23, 2025. He previously was a shareholder at Lawson Huck Gonzalez PLLC, Chief Deputy General Counsel to the Governor, and General Counsel of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation; he holds a law degree from Yale Law School.
What a yes vote does: keeps the judge for another term; a no vote removes the judge at the end of the term.
Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal
J. Andrew Atkinson
Retention: yes or no2nd DCA
Judge Atkinson was appointed to the Second District Court of Appeal in 2018. He previously served in the Florida Attorney General's Office, as Assistant General Counsel to the Governor, and as General Counsel for the Florida Departments of State and Management Services; he is a veteran of the U.S. Army.
What a yes vote does: keeps the judge for another term; a no vote removes the judge at the end of the term.
Morris Silberman
Retention: yes or no2nd DCA
Judge Silberman was appointed to the Second District Court of Appeal in January 2001 and served as Chief Judge from 2011 to 2013. He holds a J.D. from the University of Florida College of Law and previously practiced civil litigation in Sarasota and Clearwater.
What a yes vote does: keeps the judge for another term; a no vote removes the judge at the end of the term.
Daniel H. Sleet
Retention: yes or no2nd DCA
Judge Sleet was appointed to the Second District Court of Appeal in December 2012 by Gov. Rick Scott, after serving on the 13th Judicial Circuit Court since a 2005 appointment. He previously was an assistant state attorney and a civil litigation partner in Tampa.
What a yes vote does: keeps the judge for another term; a no vote removes the judge at the end of the term.
Andrea Teves Smith
Retention: yes or no2nd DCA
Judge Smith was appointed to the Second District Court of Appeal on January 7, 2019, after serving on the Tenth Judicial Circuit bench since 2013. She previously practiced commercial and appellate litigation at Peterson & Myers, P.A. in Lakeland; she holds a J.D. from Stetson University College of Law.
What a yes vote does: keeps the judge for another term; a no vote removes the judge at the end of the term.
Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal
Kansas R. Gooden
Retention: yes or no3rd DCA
Judge Gooden was appointed to the Third District Court of Appeal by Gov. Ron DeSantis in June 2024, after 16 years in private appellate practice as an equity shareholder and appellate-department chair at her firm. She is a Board Certified Specialist in Appellate Practice.
What a yes vote does: keeps the judge for another term; a no vote removes the judge at the end of the term.
Monica Gordo
Retention: yes or no3rd DCA
Judge Gordo was appointed to the Third District Court of Appeal by Gov. Ron DeSantis on April 25, 2019, after more than eight years on the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court. She previously served more than 11 years as an Assistant State Attorney in Miami-Dade County; she holds a J.D. from the University of Miami School of Law.
What a yes vote does: keeps the judge for another term; a no vote removes the judge at the end of the term.
Fleur J. Lobree
Retention: yes or no3rd DCA
Judge Lobree was appointed to the Third District Court of Appeal by Gov. Ron DeSantis on April 25, 2019. She previously served as a judge on the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court and Miami-Dade County Court, and earlier as an assistant state attorney and assistant attorney general.
What a yes vote does: keeps the judge for another term; a no vote removes the judge at the end of the term.
Thomas Logue
Retention: yes or no3rd DCA
Judge Logue was appointed to the Third District Court of Appeal by Gov. Rick Scott in 2012 and was elected by his colleagues to serve as Chief Judge from 2023 to 2025. He previously spent 30 years as an assistant county attorney for Miami-Dade County.
What a yes vote does: keeps the judge for another term; a no vote removes the judge at the end of the term.
Bronwyn C. Miller
Retention: yes or no3rd DCA
Judge Miller was appointed to the Third District Court of Appeal by Gov. Rick Scott in 2018, after prior appointments to the Miami-Dade County Court (2005, Gov. Jeb Bush) and the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court (2010, Gov. Charlie Crist). She was a Miami-Dade County prosecutor from 1997 to 2005 and holds a J.D. from the University of Miami School of Law.
What a yes vote does: keeps the judge for another term; a no vote removes the judge at the end of the term.
Florida 4th District Court of Appeal
Alan O. Forst
Retention: yes or no4th DCA
Judge Forst has served on the Fourth District Court of Appeal since 2013, after appointment by Gov. Rick Scott. He previously chaired the Florida Reemployment Assistance (formerly Unemployment) Appeals Commission and held counsel roles at several federal agencies; he holds a law degree from the Columbus School of Law at Catholic University of America.
What a yes vote does: keeps the judge for another term; a no vote removes the judge at the end of the term.
Mark W. Klingensmith
Retention: yes or no4th DCA
Judge Klingensmith was appointed to the Fourth District Court of Appeal by Gov. Rick Scott in 2013 and has served as the court's Chief Judge. He was a shareholder at a West Palm Beach civil trial firm from 1992 to 2011 and holds a J.D. from the University of Florida and an LL.M. from Duke University.
What a yes vote does: keeps the judge for another term; a no vote removes the judge at the end of the term.
Johnathan D. Lott
Retention: yes or no4th DCA
Judge Lott was appointed to the Fourth District Court of Appeal by Gov. Ron DeSantis in November 2025, after less than a year on the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit bench. He previously was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of Florida and holds a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School.
What a yes vote does: keeps the judge for another term; a no vote removes the judge at the end of the term.
Shannon K. Shaw
Retention: yes or no4th DCA
Judge Shaw was appointed to the Fourth District Court of Appeal by Gov. Ron DeSantis in July 2025. She previously was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of Florida from 2017 to 2025 and holds a J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School.
What a yes vote does: keeps the judge for another term; a no vote removes the judge at the end of the term.
Caroline Shepherd
Retention: yes or no4th DCA
Judge Shepherd was appointed to the Fourth District Court of Appeal by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2025, after serving as a Fifteenth Judicial Circuit (Palm Beach County) circuit judge since 2019 and county judge from 2009 to 2019. She holds a J.D. from New England School of Law.
What a yes vote does: keeps the judge for another term; a no vote removes the judge at the end of the term.
Florida 5th District Court of Appeal
John M. Harris
Retention: yes or no5th DCA
Judge Harris was appointed to the Fifth District Court of Appeal by Gov. Rick Scott in July 2018, after 16 years as a trial judge (twice elected Chief Judge) on the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit. He holds a J.D. from Florida State University College of Law.
What a yes vote does: keeps the judge for another term; a no vote removes the judge at the end of the term.
Scott D. Makar
Retention: yes or no5th DCA
Judge Makar was appointed to the First District Court of Appeal by Gov. Rick Scott in 2012 and recommissioned to the Fifth District Court of Appeal by Gov. Ron DeSantis on January 1, 2023. He previously served as Florida's Solicitor General from 2007 to 2012 and holds a J.D. and Ph.D. in economics from the University of Florida.
What a yes vote does: keeps the judge for another term; a no vote removes the judge at the end of the term.
F. Rand Wallis
Retention: yes or no5th DCA
Judge Wallis has served on the Fifth District Court of Appeal since 2013, after appointment by Gov. Rick Scott, and previously served as a Ninth Judicial Circuit judge beginning in 2008. He holds a J.D. from Stetson University College of Law and was formerly an assistant state attorney.
What a yes vote does: keeps the judge for another term; a no vote removes the judge at the end of the term.
How retention votes work
Florida uses merit selection and retention for the Supreme Court and District Courts of Appeal: the Governor appoints justices/judges from a list submitted by a Judicial Nominating Commission, and each then faces a statewide (Supreme Court) or district-wide (DCA) yes/no retention vote at the first general election more than one year after appointment, and again near the end of each six-year term. A majority yes vote retains the justice/judge for a new six-year term; if not retained, the seat is filled again through the same nominating-commission process.
Source: floridabar.org, as of 2026-09-04.
County and trial-court judicial races we track
Trial judges, county courts and other judicial offices from the county pages we have built (14 counties so far). Each link opens that race's page.
- Brevard County Court Judge, Group 3 Brevard County · 2 candidates
- Broward County Court Judge Group 11 Broward County · 2 candidates
- Circuit Judge, 20th Judicial Circuit, Group 19 Charlotte County · 2 candidates
- Circuit Judge, 20th Judicial Circuit, Group 27 Charlotte County · 2 candidates
- Duval County Court Judge Group 1 Duval County · 2 candidates
- Duval County Court Judge Group 13 Duval County · 2 candidates
- Lee County Court Judge Group 5 Lee County · 2 candidates
- Second Judicial Circuit Judge, Group 13 Leon County · 2 candidates
- Second Judicial Circuit Judge, Group 7 Leon County · 2 candidates
- Circuit Judge, 11th Judicial Circuit, Group 5 Miami Dade County · 2 candidates
- Circuit Judge, 11th Judicial Circuit, Group 69 Miami Dade County · 2 candidates
- Monroe County Judge, Group 2 Monroe County · 2 candidates
- Orange County Court Judge Group 17 Orange County · 2 candidates
- Orange County Court Judge Group 21 Orange County · 2 candidates
- Orange County Court Judge Group 5 Orange County · 2 candidates
- Palm Beach County Court Judge Group 12 Palm Beach County · 2 candidates
- Pinellas County Court Judge Group 10 Pinellas County · 2 candidates
- Circuit Judge, Seventh Judicial Circuit, Group 26 Putnam County · 2 candidates
- Seminole County Court Judge, Group 3 Seminole County · 2 candidates
- Seminole County Court Judge, Group 6 Seminole County · 2 candidates
- Circuit Judge, Seventh Judicial Circuit, Group 26 St Johns County · 2 candidates
Everything else on your Florida ballot · Your exact ballot by ZIP code