 In the longstanding Just Wright Citrus spirit of things, we’re going to start this week off with an exciting civics lesson. And, just to add some sugar with that spice, politics as well. Friday was the ballot-qualifying deadline for federal and judicial offices. Qualifying for county and state offices is in June. We’re going to leave the congressional race alone for the time being. I’m looking today at the judicial races because, guess what, we have four of them that’ll be decided in the August primary.
Or three. Let’s get to it. In Florida, someone is elected or re-elected to office automatically if he/she has no opponent. This happens quite frequently in what I call the real-job offices — state attorney, public defender, and judge, to name a few. We have three county court judges, including the always pleasant Edward Spaight, seen in our photo today. (Judge Spaight, elected in 2022, is happily not on this year’s ballot.) We elect the county court judge the same way we elect a School Board member. It’s a countywide office, and nonpartisan. Circuit judges are the same but different. Voters in the Fifth Judicial Circuit — Citrus, Hernando, Lake, Marion, and Sumter counties — vote for all the judges in the circuit. What makes that weird is these judges are assigned to specific areas. So, while we are voting for a circuit court judge, that person may be stationed in Tavares and never see the Citrus County Courthouse. (Hang on, almost finished.) Each of these judge slots is assigned a “group” number. That’s why you’ll see a candidate for circuit court judge, Group 13. As of now, there are four judicial races, each with two candidates. Each race is decided in the Aug. 20 primary, and the winner takes office in January. Geez. I feel like I just explained the rules to a TV game show. That’s what voting for a judge is like in this state. So, about the county court race. Until Thursday, we didn’t have one. Charles Helm is the incumbent, even though we’ve never voted for him. Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Helm to a new Citrus County Court judgeship in 2021. Helm had already qualified for the County Court ballot this year, and likely would have been elected without opposition, when DeSantis promoted him on Thursday with an appointment to a vacant circuit court position. That meant no incumbent for county court. Two attorneys, Lisa Yeager and Amber May Thomas, scrambled to file paperwork Friday morning before the noon deadline. They each paid filing fees in excess of $7,000, and one of them will be elected county judge in August. Except…what if DeSantis names a replacement for Helm before the primary? Or, he names someone to the office after the primary who doesn’t win? I know… the governor playing politics with an election. Seems hard to believe, but who knows? We’re going to have to just stay tuned on that one. As for judicial races, the biggest thing to know is candidates simply can’t talk about the job at all. They can’t attend partisan events; this is an above-the-fray type deal. It’s all about experience and community service. You can also research attorneys at the Florida Bar. With that, here’s an extremely brief look at each candidate: COUNTY JUDGE
CIRCUIT JUDGE GROUP 7
CIRCUIT JUDGE GROUP 13
CIRCUIT JUDGE GROUP 20
If you made it through all that, congratulations. Your Monday is complete. Join the discussion on our Facebook page. Enjoying the blog? Please consider supporting it at Venmo, PayPal, or Patreon. Comments are closed.
|
AuthorMike Wright has written about Citrus County government and politics for 37 years. 
Archives
June 2025
|
