by Sean McManus
Staff Writer
Brent Shore had not even caught a glimpse of the turkey and stuffing that his wife’s family cooks in abundance at the house outside of Atlanta where the Shores spend Thanksgiving when his friend Rick Mullaney called to tell him that he was due at the Supervisor of Election’s office at 8 a.m. that Friday in November 2000.
Shore, then-chairman of the Duval County Canvassing Board, left his wife and children to enjoy their holiday in Georgia and drove back to Jacksonville to oversee what became the most controversial ballot recount of any presidential election in history in the state that garnered international attention for its, shall we say, fuzzy voting methods.
“I was neck deep in chads doing a job that’s usually perfunctory,” said the mild-mannered Atlantic Beach resident, whose service as administrative judge of the County Court led him — via ordinance — to the usually perfunctory honor of canvassing board chair. “It’s just meant to be a job where an extra set of eyes and ears keep watch to make sure elections are conducted legally.”
Not in 2000.
That year, Shore spent three full days in the Supervisor of Elections office, including his 27th wedding anniversary when he slept there, answering reporters’ questions, taking arguments from the Democratic and Republican party attorneys, and of course, making individual decisions about which ballots were legal and which were not. Then there was a break before another three days in December.
“We had lawyers from Holland & Knight and from Brown Terrell there representing their party’s interests in the recount,” said Shore. “I’ll let you guess which were the Republicans and which were the Democrats.”
About halfway into the process, the official headquarters of the recount was moved from the Supervisor of Elections office on Monroe Street to the City Hall Annex to accommodate the crowds. There are computers with Internet access in the Annex, but no televisions. Shore said he was about 30 seconds from calling for the second recount when his wife paged him to say that the Supreme Court had issued an order stopping the recount. “We checked the web to make sure and then we stopped,” he recalled.
Shore said the canvassing board, which consisted of himself as chair, Mullaney, the City’s general counsel, City Council president Matt Carlucci and Supervisor of Elections John Stafford, did everything in their power to make sure they followed the law with regard to every single ballot and that every legal ballot was counted regardless of candidate.
“Let’s just say I’m glad to hear that Duval County will be getting a modern ballot system,” said Shore. “It was a lot of work and a lot of pressure. I’m glad I was there for it, but I’m not sure I’d want to do it again.”
Shore was born in Charlotte, but moved to Jacksonville when he was five. He graduated from Lee High School and earned his bachelor’s and law degrees from the University of Florida.
After law school, Shore landed a job at the Federal Communications Commission in Washington, D.C., responding to complaints and investigating unfair practices by the media. He only stayed a year, anxious to get back home.
“The FCC was mostly flying around the country to hold hearings,” said Shore. “It was interesting in that when you walked into a TV station, you definitely got a lot of attention.”
In 1973, Shore went to work for then-state attorney Don Nichols. He was felony division chief for four out of the five years he spent there. One of four division chiefs, Shore had prosecutors working for him.
He moved to private practice in 1978. The firm of Tromberg, Shore & Safer, in various iterations, handled mostly criminal defense and family law.
“We handled some pretty big cases while I was in private practice,” said Shore. “Quite a number of first degree murder cases.”
In fact, Shore actually had to work on two capital murder cases at the end of 1996, when he was a judge-elect.
“It’s not really ideal to be working on one side of a murder case when you’re almost a judge,” said Shore. “But I had to finish the trial.”
Both men received life sentences.
Shore had run for a County Court spot before, in 1990 against Brad Stetson. He lost in a runoff. In 1996, when a seat opened, he figured after 20 years of practicing law, he should try again.
“I always wanted to be a judge,” said Shore. “My combined background of working at the State Attorney’s Office and working in criminal defense and family law really gave me a good perspective on both sides of the law.”
Practicing family law also helped Shore prepare for judgeship. County Court in Jacksonville is famous — or infamous — for a large amount of domestic violence cases, something Shore said is almost an epidemic.
“It’s a very emotional process,” said Shore. “You have to really spend the time to hear a client’s needs and desires and try to lead them through the process. Then, of course, you have to relegate the emotional side to the backburner so you can actually proceed with the legality of the case.”
Shore is passionate about the issue. He’s on the board of the Domestic Violence Intervention Project with leaders of various agencies such as Hubbard House.
“The purpose is to do what we can to effectively eliminate domestic battery,” Shore said. “And make the system more efficient for the victims.”
He’s also on the board of advisors of the pre-law program at the University of North Florida.
Shore said his biggest hobby is his family. His wife, Kathy, was a court reporter during his first jury trial. They’ve been married for 28 years. His son, Kevin, is an illustrator at Principal Woods books and his daughter, Kristin, 26, is an elementary school teacher at John Love Elementary. Brent Jr., 20, is a sophomore at the University of Florida.
From his office at the courthouse, surrounded by pictures of Steve Spurrier and posters of alligators holding footballs, Shore said, “My other hobby is the Florida Gators.”