Circuit Judge Jason Jones and challenger Stephanie Cager will go face to face today at 11 a.m. in the first of a series of livestreamed candidate forums brought to you by the Tallahassee Democrat, the Capital Region News Collaborative and the League of Women Voters.
The two are vying for the Group 7 2nd Judicial Circuit judge seat.
Jones, a former general counsel for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, was appointed county judge in 2020 by DeSantis. In 2022, he defeated Mario Theodore to win election to the post. In 2025, DeSantis appointed him to the circuit bench.
Cager is senior vice president of legal affairs for the Children’s Home Society of Florida and formerly served as deputy general counsel for the Florida Department of Health.
The forum will be livestreamed at the top of this story and will be archived on our YouTube page.
Candidate forum schedule
(Links will take you to replays of forums that have already happened or let you sign up to be notified when they are happening.)
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17
THURSDAY, JUNE 18
TUESDAY, JUNE 23
How to watch the forums
Forums will be broadcast live at the Tallahassee Democrat’s Facebook page, the Tallahassee Democrat’s YouTube Channel and on Tallahassee.com. They will be archived on our YouTube page under the playlist “2026 Primary Election Forums.” The forums will also be aired in replay on WFSU radio at 88.9 FM.
Download our app from the App Store or Google Play to receive text notifications 5 minutes before each forum starts. Or “like” our Facebook page or click on the YouTube livestream to be notified whenever we go live.
Media partners will also be streaming the forums and archiving them on their sites.
Have a question for the candidates?
Have a burning question on a city, school or judicial issue you’d like the candidates to address? Submit your query to news@tallahassee.com and we’ll consider it in the mix. Make sure your question addresses all candidates.
More about the candidate forums
This year, we are building on our partnership with the League of Women Voters of Tallahassee and WFSU to broadcast our award-winning candidate forums before the primary and general elections.
We are excited to join the Capital Region News Collaborative, a media consortium made up of TV, radio, newspaper and digital reporters, editors and anchors that will host the forums.
The forums are made possible through the support of Press Forward North Florida, an initiative of the Community Foundation of North Florida. Press Forward brings together journalists, nonprofit leaders, educators, and community stakeholders to identify needs and create sustainable solutions that enhance civic engagement and strengthen trusted local news for years to come.
The Tallahassee Democrat will be teaming up with the League and Collaborative partners WFSU, WCTV, WTXL, Capital Outlook and Tallahassee Reports to question the candidates.
Our election guides to the candidates and issues
Our special primary election guide will be printed and inserted into the paper on Sunday, Aug. 2 ahead of early voting. You’ll be able to access the same information – and much more – at our 2026 online Election HQ at Tallahassee.com/elections.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: 2nd Judicial Circuit hopefuls face off in live candidate forum
Reporting by Staff reports, Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Staff reports, Tallahassee Democrat | USA TODAY Network
