A Leon County circuit court judge said a Brevard County judicial election will remain cancelled after Gov. Ron DeSantis decided he would appoint someone to replace an outgoing judge rather than allow voters to decide.
On April 15, county court Judge Benjamin Garagozlo wrote a letter announcing that he would retire at the end of the year, only days before a newly elected judge would take over his seat following this August’s elections.
Because Garagozlo is leaving before the end of his term, state law allows for the governor, who himself would be in the final days of his term, to appoint a replacement to serve until 2028. The decision led to the cancellation of an election in which candidates Margaret Wagner and Andrea Fant had already been campaigning for a year.
Fant has refocused her efforts to run for circuit court judge while Wagner filed suit against the DeSantis administration to allow the election to continue.
Circuit Judge Joshua Hawkes wrote in his denial that the plaintiffs had not met the required legal standard for him to intervene and force an election to go on despite its cancellation.
“Petitioners faced a tight timeline, but the fact remains. It should be obvious that the Court cannot cure an alleged infirmity by contravening strict statutory windows for qualification,” Hawkes wrote. “Nor is there any realistic way for this Court to notice other candidates who were thinking of qualifying but are not participating in this suit.”
Hawkes also wrote that it would be beyond the scope of his power to force an election to proceed with only one candidate as it would effectively allow the court to have appointment powers it does not legally have.
Because this is DeSantis’ final year in office, it may be possible that he is stretching his statutory powers to leave a larger impression on the judiciary as part of his legacy, a common maneuver for outgoing governors and presidents with appointment powers, according to University of Central Florida political science professor Aubrey Jewett.
Multiple similar instances have been reported across the state in Leon, Orange and Palm Beach counties, where slight gaps in time on the bench between a retiring judge leaving and an elected judge taking their seat have allowed DeSantis to step in and make appointments.
Although the rules in the Florida Constitution may be designed to prevent long-term vacancies in the judiciary, it’s not against the rules for DeSantis to make such moves.
Hawkes in his denial wrote that Gov. DeSantis was justified legally in making an appointment and that the Florida Constitution allows for that power regardless of whether Garagozlo resigned or retired. He also wrote that Garagozlo could have better timed his retirement to prevent this from occurring instead of allowing a short window in which nobody elected or appointed would be on the bench.
“A judge, of all people, can be presumed to know the legal consequences of his actions,” the order reads.
Tyler Vazquez is the Growth and Development Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Vazquez at 321-480-0854 or tvazquez@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @tyler_vazquez.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Judge upholds DeSantis decision to cancel judicial election
Reporting by Tyler Vazquez, Florida Today / Florida Today
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