Most Brevard County judicial races already wrapped up

Brevard County voters will have a say in only three of the eight local judicial races this year as five of the Space Coast races went uncontested.

The qualifying period to run for judge closed on April 26, resulting in County Judges Thomas Brown and Katie Jacobus along with Circuit Judges Charlie Crawford, Jigisia Patel-Dookhoo and Kathryn M. Speicher essentially being reelected to the bench.

Also elected without opposition were Seminole-based Circuit Judges Melissa D. Souto and William S. Orth. The 18th Judicial Circuit is comprised of both Brevard and Seminole Counties.

Judges Judith Atkin, Kenneth Friedland and Jennifer Taylor are retiring at the end of their terms and did not seek reelection. Those are the three contested races.

Vying for Atkin's County Judge seat in Group 10 are Jonathan Andrew Skinner and Timi Deann Tucker. Running for the Group 6 County Judge seat left vacant by the retiring Friedland are Clarissa Harrell, Jacob Jay Speicher and Margaret "Maggie" Wagner.

Lastly, Andrea Fant and Kristen Smith-Rodriguez are facing off for Taylor's Circuit Judge seat in Group 17.

County Court judges make $180,616.08 per year and handle misdemeanors, civil cases less than $50,000, small claims and traffic.

Circuit Judges earn $191,163 annually and cover felonies, family law, civil cases more than $50,000, probate, guardianship, mental health, juvenile dependency and other cases.

Judicial races are decided during the August primary with a runoff during general election Nov. 5 if no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote.

Contact Torres at [email protected]. You can follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @johnalbertorres.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Most of Brevard County's judicial races are already decided