After being wrongfully removed from the ballot by the Florida Division of Elections, James Judge was granted an injunction that places him back on the ballot.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Attorneys for James Judge Wednesday successfully argued before Circuit Court Judge Angela Dempsey that the Florida Division of Elections and Secretary of State wrongfully removed his name from the ballot in Florida’s 14th Congressional District primary election.
An injunction was ordered mandating that James Judge be restored to the ballot so that voters can make their own decision at the polls. Judge Dempsey ruled that since the state’s qualification paperwork was so ambiguous, Judge must be placed back on the ballot because he met the requirements.
Wednesday’s ruling was important for Judge’s campaign, as the deadline to begin printing ballots for the counties of Hillsborough and Pinellas was at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Originally, 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.
The state, in its attempt to disqualify Judge, claimed after the deadline for qualification that its own employees made a mistake by accepting his candidate oath form. According to their representatives, Judge should have filed the federal candidate oath form, and instead filed a state candidate oath form.
However, according to Florida law, the state is required to review the paperwork and notify candidates if anything on the paperwork is not properly filled out 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.
Furthermore, the candidate oath form that Judge completed referred to the state constitution as “the Constitution,” using an uppercase letter “C.” Judge submitted an affidavit asserting that according to the Associated Press style guide – the standard for print journalism and public affairs nationwide – the uppercase C is used only in reference to the U.S. Constitution. State level constitutions use a lowercase letter “c” when they stand alone. Thus, Judge had no reason to believe that he was swearing an oath to the Florida constitution instead of the U.S. Constitution.
“My faith in our judicial system is renewed and at a new high, as our courts have continued to make the right decisions over the past two weeks at both the state and federal levels,” said Judge, who is endorsed by law enforcement. “I’d like to thank Judge Dempsey for her diligence and attention to this issue, along with my legal team who ensured that my wrongful and temporary disqualification was resolved quickly and efficiently.”
According to Florida Politics, Judge is the frontrunner in the Republican primary race in Florida’s 14th Congressional District.
“We did not stop campaigning during the brief period in which the state mistakenly removed us from the ballot, and we intend to campaign harder than ever leading up to the election,” Judge said. “This is the first, of many battles that we are going to win, including the primary election in August, and the general election this November.”
The Judge campaign has gained immense momentum with recent endorsements from the Tampa Police Benevolent Association, 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.
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 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.
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