After initially qualifying James Judge to run for Congress, the Florida Division of Elections is now attempting to remove him from the ballot, despite their own errors in processing his candidacy forms and after state officials violated the law.
TAMPA, Fla. – Attorneys for James Judge are working on a response to the state of Florida’s attempt to remove him from the ballot after he was the first Republican candidate to qualify in the race for Florida’s 14th Congressional District, Judge’s campaign announced Thursday.
Late Wednesday afternoon, the Florida Division of Elections notified Judge via a telephone call that the state of Florida had made a mistake when processing his qualification paperwork.
Judge was the first Republican candidate to qualify in Florida’s 14th Congressional district, when the state accepted and approved his paperwork before 11 a.m. on Wednesday, June 15, more than 48 hours before the filing deadline.
According to the state of Florida, state employees made a mistake by accepting his candidate oath form. According to their representative, Judge should have filed the federal candidate oath form, and instead filed a state candidate oath form.
However, according to Florida law and the state of Florida’s 2022 Candidate handbook, the state is required to review the paperwork and notify candidates if anything on the paperwork filled outincorrectly before the filing deadline, and they made no such effort. Instead of recognizing the difference between the two forms, the state acknowledged that Judge had properly completed his paperwork and qualified him to be on the ballot for the August primary.
It’s important to note that the only difference between the two forms is that a candidate for state or local office swears to uphold the state of Florida’s Constitution, in addition to swearing to uphold the U.S. Constitution. Additionally, it’s also important to note that the 2022 Florida Candidate Handbook had broken web links to the federal candidate qualification forms, and they still remain broken as of the writing of this press release.
“We tried to do everything properly, and had our paperwork in first, well before the deadline, to ensure if that if a mistake had been made, we would have time to fix it before the deadline,” Judge said. “Instead, the state signaled that I had completed the paperwork correctly by accepting and qualifying my candidacy.”
Judge was only contacted this Wednesday afternoon by a representative from the Division of Elections in Tallahassee, more than five days after the deadline and more than a week after he filed the paperwork. The representative reportedly told him of the issue and said that nothing could be done and that there was no way around the issue.
“While I do appreciate the state’s efforts to ensure a fair and honest election, I am confident that this will be resolved and I’ll be on the ballot for the primary, as I did everything required by a federal candidate, with the additional move of pledging to support our state’s constitution,” Judge said. “While it may have been a clerical mistake, frankly, I believe all representatives who live in Florida should also pledge to abide by the state’s constitution, as well.”
Since Judge launched his campaign in December, he has advocated for governance by ordinary Americans like him, not the elite, multi-millionaire, career politicians in the Washington establishment. James is a small business owner in Tampa, and like most of his soon-to-be constituents, he is fed up with the ineptitude of government.
“Ordinary Americans should not be subject to governance by people and entities who can’t even abide by their own rules,” said Judge. “It’s no wonder Americans are so frustrated.”
The challenge comes at a time when the Judge campaign has gained immense momentum with several major local endorsements in the past two months. Earlier this week, Tampa Police endorsed Judge as their preferred candidate through the Tampa Police Benevolent Association. Additionally, Congressman Ted Yoho (retired 2021), Clearwater Mayor Frank Hibbard, and former SBA White House Deputy Chief Matt Becker, who previously ran for Congress against an incumbent Democrat in St. Petersburg, have all endorsed Judge for Congress.
About James Judge:
Judge, who publicly announced his run for Congress earlier this year, is the only Tampa Bay area native running in the race, having been born in Clearwater, Florida. Judge graduated from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg and served in the U.S. Coast Guard in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Additionally, he served in Kabul, Afghanistan as a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Defense from 2010 until 2011. He now owns Judge Public Relations, a Tampa-based PR firm and marketing agency with clients worldwide.
Judge is married to his wife Danielle, who is the founder and owner of Rowdy’s Pet Resort, a dog daycare boarding facility near Apollo Beach. The Judges are avid animal lovers and together, they have four dogs, three cats, two horses and 10 chickens. Judge is a proud member of the NRA, Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion. The Judges are also active members at Idlewild Baptist Church in Tampa.
