The race for an open seat on Florida’s 4th Judicial Circuit Court bench has taken a partisan turn, as one candidate touts her conservative credentials while dark money groups flood mailboxes with attacks on her opponent.
Nancy Cleaveland, a family attorney, faces Ashley Wells Cox, a former prosecutor who has practiced criminal, administrative and family law, in the Aug. 20 nonpartisan election for 4th Judicial Circuit Group 34.
While Cox has emphasized her broad legal experience, Cleaveland’s campaign has embraced conservative messaging typically seen in partisan races.
The two are competing for a position on the bench that handles a wide range of cases, from felony criminal trials to complex civil litigation and family law matters.
The 4th Judicial Circuit covers Duval, Clay, and Nassau counties, encompassing Jacksonville and its surrounding areas. All voters, regardless of political party, can vote in the Aug. 20 election.
Circuit judges in Florida have broad responsibilities and can be assigned to various divisions at the chief judge’s discretion. This means the winning candidate could find themselves presiding over death penalty murder trials one year and contentious divorces the next.
PARTISAN TIES
While judicial races are traditionally nonpartisan affairs, Cleaveland’s campaign has embraced conservative messaging typically seen in partisan contests. Her campaign materials describe her as a “lifelong conservative,” language recently deemed permissible by the Florida Supreme Court, ruling that judges who call themselves conservative don’t run afoul of longstanding rules barring “inappropriate political activity.”
Cleaveland, co-founder of Jacksonville law firm Cleaveland & Cleaveland P.L., didn’t return requests for an interview.
At a Jacksonville Bar Association candidate forum, the candidates were asked about how partisan bias affects judicial outcomes.
“The reality of it is we are all human,” Cleaveland said. “We all have opinions on what is right and what is wrong, and what the Constitution means and what it doesn’t mean. And to think that anyone can genuinely go into an issue completely unbiased is naive.”
Still, she said it was imperative that judges “only rule on the facts presented, the evidence that’s admissible, and the law applied to those facts.”
Cox said judges can and should set aside their political views. “We are a nonpartisan position. Our politics, our policies, our personal opinions are not to come in to how we interpret the law. We have statutes. We have a constitution. We have case law. Those are what we need to look at. It is not my job to make the law or change the law. And if that was the case, I would run for the Legislature.”
She pointed to her father, former Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Charley Wells, as an example. Wells, despite being appointed by a Democratic governor, found himself in the minority when he wrote a dissent against Al Gore in the contested 2000 presidential election. He argued his colleagues’ recount order was unconstitutional and warned it could lead to chaos. The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately agreed with Wells’ position, citing his dissent multiple times in their decision to halt the Florida recount, effectively deciding the presidential election in favor of George W. Bush.
“My father was on the Florida Supreme Court, Justice Wells, and I would challenge each of you to look at his opinions and try to figure out what political party he was in,” Cox said, “and you wouldn’t be able to do that because he followed the law, he did his duty of what he was supposed to do, and that’s what I will do as well.”
Cleaveland pointed to her political ties in applications she submitted in previous attempts to get appointed to four judicial seats. She failed to be named a finalist each time, but her applications listed the chairman of the Duval County Republican Party and the president of the Republican Women’s Club of Duval Federated as references. She also noted her involvement as a Republican precinct committeewoman and her membership in three other GOP groups.
Meanwhile, dark money groups have injected presidential politics into the race, a topic judicial candidates are barred from opining on under Florida’s judicial canons. A mailer from Florida’s Values, a political committee with opaque funding sources, attempted to link Cox to national partisan figures.
The committee’s registered agent, treasurer and chairperson is William S. Jones, a conservative operative linked to 180 active or defunct political committees, many of which support Jacksonville’s Republican establishment candidates. This web of committees often transfers funds between each other, obscuring the original source of campaign funds.
The influx of partisan messaging and dark money into a judicial race raises questions about the evolving nature of these traditionally nonpartisan contests and the potential impact on judicial impartiality. It also puts candidates like Cox in a bind, unable to respond to partisan attacks due to ethical constraints on judicial candidates.
The judicial canons that govern what candidates and judges can and can’t do say candidates “should avoid expressing a position on any political issue”.
CANDIDATE BACKGROUNDS
While serving as an Assistant State Attorney, Cox was chosen by then-State Attorney Harry Shorstein to lead a high-profile grand jury investigation into the Jacksonville Shipyards project. The investigation, which lasted six months, examined the City of Jacksonville’s management of the $36.5 million Shipyards redevelopment deal and possible misuse of public funds.
That investigation helped spark ethics reforms in Jacksonville’s local government, including the creation of a new city ethics officer.
Since 2006, Cox has been with the Bedell Firm, where she initially practiced criminal defense before heading up the firm’s family law practice.
“I’ve made sure that I’ve touched all areas because the chief judge could put us anywhere,” Cox said at the Jacksonville Bar Association forum. “It could be a criminal court, where I’ve had experience as a prosecutor and a criminal defense attorney. I could be in juvenile court, where I’ve also had experience.”
Five former presidents of The Florida Bar from the Fourth Judicial Circuit have thrown their support behind Cox, along with the Jacksonville Association of Firefighters.
Nancy Cleaveland has touted the endorsements of the Fraternal Order of Police and Republican elected officials, including GOP state Sen. Clay Yarborough and five Republican Jacksonville City Council members.
Cleaveland’s legal experience is primarily concentrated in family law, with some additional work in probate, bankruptcy, and contract law. She has been practicing for about 15 years;.
Despite applying for four judicial appointments through the Judicial Nominating Commission, Cleaveland has not been selected as a finalist for any of these positions at the Fourth Judicial Circuit and Duval County judge levels.
The JNC usually submits six finalists for each open position to the governor for appointment, but Cleaveland has never made it past the initial interview.
The cases Cleaveland cited in her applications as the most significant of her career reveal a focus on jurisdictional issues in family law and the distribution of marital assets.
“I have about 15 years of experience, primarily in family law,” Cleaveland said at the Jacksonville Bar forum. “I do have some other experience in probate, bankruptcy, some contract and estate planning. But the seat is currently, the circuit seat that we are running for is currently in the family court. And so I believe that my 15 years of experience in family law will be especially helpful if I am to stay in the seat as it currently sits.”
The winner of this election will serve a six-year term on the circuit court, wielding considerable influence over a wide range of legal matters that affect the lives of citizens in Duval, Clay, and Nassau counties, from determining guilt in serious criminal cases to resolving complex civil disputes and making decisions that impact families and children.
You can contact Andrew Pantazi at andrew.pantazi@jaxtrib.org. Charlie McGee can be reached at charlie.mcgee@jaxtrib.org.
