Don’t expect to see much participation by judicial candidates in the campaigning flurry that will lead up to the primary election in late August.
In the 4th Judicial Circuit, Judges Don Lester, Steven Whittington, Thomas Beverly, Karen Cole, Katie Dearing, Kevin Blazs, Robert Dees, Gary Wilkinson, Eric Roberson, Mark Jeffrey Borello, John Guy, Collins Cooper and Suzanne Bass are the sole candidates for their seats on the bench. All but Dearing and Cooper are incumbents.
In the only circuit court election that will be on the ballot in Duval County, Maureen Horkan and Charles McBurney are the candidates for Seat 18 in the 4th Judicial Circuit.
In the Duval County Court, two contested races will be on the ballot: Seat 3, Michael Bateh and Gerald Wilkerson; and Seat 8, LaRae Hendrix and Kimberly Sadler.
Duval County jurists who will be re-elected without opposition are Judges Roberto Arias, Pauline Drake, Emmet Ferguson III, James Ruth, Kelly Elizabeth Eckley, Michelle Kalil and Dawn Hudson.
In the 1st District Court of Appeal, which includes Northeast Florida, Judges Harvey Jay, Stephanie Ray, Brad Thomas, Kemmerly Thomas and Allen Winsor all qualified for retention.
With two candidates for each of the three seats that will be on the local ballot, the judicial offices will be decided in the Aug. 28 primary election.
The six candidates were invited to the Jacksonville Bar Association’s Judicial Forum that begins at 5:30 p.m. June 12 at the Wells Fargo Center auditorium. All plan to attend except Gerald Wilkerson, who declined the invitation, citing a conflict with a family matter.