by Liz Daube
Staff Writer
The largest law enforcement organization in Florida has announced its campaign endorsements and four judicial candidates have made the list.
Jacksonville’s Fraternal Order of Police is supporting Dawn Hudson for County Judge Group 17, Libby Senterfitt for Circuit Judge Group 33, John Merrett for Circuit Judge Group 34 and Thereasa Hunnewell McCaulie for Circuit Judge Group 35.
“All the candidates are qualified in their own ways,” said Robbie Freitas, vice president of the Jacksonville FOP. ”We look at what they’ve done in their relationship with law enforcement, if they’ve been a friend of ours in the past ... Some cases were very hard (to decide), and some were very easy.”
Freitas said the FOP asked the candidates about issues like jail overcrowding.
“That was one of the biggest questions that were asked: How would they handle releasing inmates?” he said. “It’s a rough situation for our correctional officers ... We want to make sure they (arrested persons) don’t have a jacked-up bond they can’t afford.”
The local FOP lodge is the seventh largest in the United States. As a law enforcement labor union, FOP supports candidates in local, state and federal office elections.
Political consultants agree that an FOP endorsement can provide a variety of benefits to a judicial campaign, which may or may not result in votes.
“When you’re talking about insuring that we have a fair and impartial judicial system, I think that endorsement from our local FOP is extremely important,” said Mike Hightower, chairman of the Duval County Republican Party and Blue Cross Blue Shield lobbyist. “We look to our men and women in uniform to protect us, and they look to the judicial system and these judges to make sure these people who have broken the law are put away.”
John Daigle, a political consultant who has worked on local judicial campaigns, said any major endorsement can provide “a nice momentum boost” to a campaign. However, Daigle added, political science research shows that “very few people vote for someone because somebody else did.”
Daigle added that nonpartisan judicial campaigns might appreciate an endorsement more than other campaigns. Judicial candidates have to follow state laws governing non-partisan elections and ethical guidelines laid out by the Florida Bar.
“An endorsement from the FOP might be a little more important because of the things you can’t say (in a judicial campaign),” said Daigle. “It may help you say something even if it’s an implied statement ... The thing you can’t do as a judicial candidate is make any statement about how you would rule in a case. You can’t stand up and say, ‘I’m going to be a judge who’s going to be tough on crime.’ ”
Hudson, McCaulie and Senterfitt said they were grateful for the endorsement. Merrett could not be reached for comment.
Senterfitt pointed out that many voters don’t get a lot of information about judicial candidates, so “the general public often looks to that police endorsement as being important.”
“It’s tough to get out there; right now, it’s a campaign season,” said Senterfitt. “Hopefully, we don’t get lost in that.”