Fourth Judicial Circuit Judge Mark Hulsey retained his judgeship over challenger Gerald Wilkerson after a narrow victory that required a recount from last week’s election.
Hulsey edged Wilkerson by 753 votes in the circuit comprising Clay, Duval and Nassau counties.
The difference came in Nassau County, where Hulsey secured 1,628 more votes. Wilkerson won Duval County by 653 votes and Clay County by 222 votes. In all, more than 192,000 votes were cast.
Hulsey had no comment about the race.
Such a challenge to an incumbent judge generally isn’t typical, but Hulsey has come under fire the past two months.
In July, a state Judicial Qualifications Commission found probable cause to pursue formal charges against him after allegations the judge made a series of racial and disparaging remarks since he took the bench in 2011.
Shortly after the commission’s report became public, Chief Judge Mark Mahon reassigned Hulsey from the circuit’s Criminal Division to the Probate Division.
The commission in its report detailed allegations of Hulsey making a comment about how African-Americans “should go get back on a ship and go back to Africa,” as well as other derogatory remarks toward staff attorneys.
Hulsey has strongly denied those claims and offered a written response to the commission in early August.
The judge also requested a “Rule 23” investigation dealing with the confidentiality of the commission’s work and a possible breach that led to rumors and knowledge of the notice before formal charges were filed.
He said at the time the charges became public that they “have been a poorly kept secret hanging over me like a cloud for months.”