Miami’s judicial race story lines: Name change controversy, a Navy hat and Roe v. Wade

Hispanic last names win judicial elections — that’s been the conventional thinking in Miami-Dade politics.

So in races where voters usually know little about candidates and there are ethics restrictions on campaigning, it’s no surprise that once again identity politics has emerged as a main story line of the judicial election season. All seven races feature incumbents facing challenges. Four of the seven races for the Aug. 23 primary feature Hispanic candidates challenging a non-Hispanic incumbent.

And one race in particular has drawn attention and questions in legal circles: A Haitian-American circuit judge, Lody Jean, is being challenged by Teressa Maria (Tylman) Cervera, a white civil lawyer who only began professionally using her husband’s Spanish last name with the Florida Bar just before running.

“Ms. Tylman is by no means the only Miami example of attempting to name-game the system, divert voter attention from merit, and bait a baitable electorate with identity-based, tribal catnip,” said Scott Fingerhut, a Florida International University law professor. “But she is the latest, and her strategy is transparent.”

Cervera insists that she changed her maiden name in 2014, after marrying attorney Adam Cervera — although she admits she always used her maiden name with the Florida Bar.

“It’s a non-story and it’s not interesting,” Cervera said, adding: “This is my real name. This is my identity.”

Other story lines have emerged in the normally low-key races. One incumbent judge, a retired military lawyer, has gotten criticism over a campaign poster featuring him in a U.S. Navy hat. Another incumbent got flak for appearing at a candidate breakfast for a Christian organization that later billed the event as a “celebration” of Roe v. Wade being overturned.

Miami’s longest serving Haitian-American judge is also being challenged — by a member of one of the city’s most entrenched political clans.

The Name Game

The name game is nothing new in majority Hispanic Miami-Dade County, where political consultants often lean on incumbent candidates to hire them to help ward off challengers.

When the races are set, voters usually know little about candidates. Under judicial canons, they can’t campaign like other candidates — no badmouthing opponents, no criticizing legal rulings, no projecting how they might rule in certain cases.

In 2004, attorney and candidate Peter Adrien famously gave himself a new middle name, Camacho, which he said was his mother’s Portuguese maiden name. A representative for his opponent, then-incumbent Circuit Judge Henry H. Harnage, blasted Camacho, saying he was trying to mislead voters into thinking he was Hispanic.

Camacho, who originally hailed from the Caribbean island of Antigua, won the election. (He later lost a subsequent election.)

More recently, there have been plenty of examples of what political observers say were Hispanic challengers who bested incumbents without Spanish surnames. Most recently in 2020, longtime circuit judge Dava Tunis lost to perennial judicial candidate and personal-injury lawyer Rosy Aponte, who’d drawn criticism during the race after she referred to Blacks as “colored people” during a judicial forum.

There are, of course, many non-Hispanic judges who win reelection against candidates with Spanish surnames

And the advantage of a Hispanic surname may be lessened this August — a midterm primary in which there likely will be reduced voter turnout.

For candidate Alicia Garcia Priovolos, who is running against incumbent Scott Janowitz, she says she is running on her credentials: 17 years as a Miami-Dade prosecutor and the current head of the office’s Human Trafficking Unit.

“Throughout those years, I prosecuted and tried some of the most serious cases our community sees, including homicide and rape,” Garcia Priovolos said in a statement. “My dedication to serve the community I was born and raised in is what drives me. My experience, work ethic, and desire to continue to serve is what I am running on.”

Here’s a breakdown of the races:

▪ In Circuit Court Group 3, Cervera is challenging Jean, a former Miami-Dade prosecutor and immigration lawyer who was appointed first to the county bench, then to circuit in 2020. Jean is currently assigned to the criminal division, where she’s presiding over a number of high-profile cases.

“Judge Lody Jean is proud of her unique name, diverse Lebanese-Haitian background and the fact that she is the first and only Haitian American woman to serve as a judge in Miami-Dade County,” her campaign said in a statement. “The voters deserve transparency and an experienced and qualified judiciary. In Judge Lody Jean, the community has a proven jurist who has served the community honorably and will continue to lead with integrity.”

Cervera has run her own civil practice since 2012 and is a certified court mediator. She told the Miami Herald Editorial Board that she has taken part in “10 to 12” bench trials and “hundreds of hours” of evidentiary hearings, “which is the equivalent of a trial.” When asked to highlight a case she’s worked, Cervera asked, “Can I get back to you on that?” before mentioning a trial involving “construction issues” and “contract issues.”

Cervera could not explain why she chose to run against Jean other than “this candidate has never been on a ballot.”

“I sought counsel from an expert on that and I relied on his advice,” she said in response. “I do believe in free and fair elections. Judges should be elected. It’s a public office where you put yourself up for election within the county. I believe in democracy. I believe in the voters. I’ve relied on my team.”

▪ In Circuit Court Group 34, incumbent Mark Blumstein is facing off against bankruptcy lawyer Ariel Rodriguez.

Blumstein, a former U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps attorney, was first elected in 2016, and has served in the criminal division and is now in civil. On the bench, some of his legal decisions have raised eyebrows over the years, like when he acquitted a woman accused of breaking her baby’s skull, instead of letting a jury hear the case, and when he refused to allow a 12-person jury in a high-profile murder case, leading an appeals court to reverse his decision.

As they did in 2016, his campaign posters papered around Miami-Dade feature him wearing what appears to be a Navy hat — which could violate a Department of Defense directive prohibiting the use of a photo in uniform as a “primary graphic representation” on a campaign ad. The directive also says photos must have a “prominent and clearly displayed” disclaimer explaining no military endorsement; Blumstein’s disclaimer is in tiny print at the bottom of the poster.

J.C. Planas, an elections lawyer who advises candidates on judicial ethics issues, said he believes the ads violate Florida canons on misrepresentation.

“We have a sitting judge pretending to be someone who he has not been for several years,” Planas said.

Blumstein did not return multiple requests for comment.

His opponent is bankruptcy lawyer Ariel Rodriguez, whose campaign also had a twist. A Facebook page using his name and image began posting support for candidates in other races — something that’s against the canons. Rodriguez says he reported the account to Facebook — to no avail — forcing him to take to his real Facebook page to explain that the account wasn’t his.

“It’s all about integrity. I’m not here to violate the judicial canons,” Rodriguez said. “I tried to do my best to shut it down.”

▪ In Circuit Court Group 52, incumbent Oscar Rodriguez-Fonts is facing off against Jason Bloch, himself a former circuit judge who lost a reelection campaign to Marcia del Rey in 2016.

Rodriguez-Fonts won election in 2016, and has served in the criminal and civil division. The Twitter page Because Miami recently spotlighted his appearance as a speaker on June 25 at a Christian Family Coalition event.

The organization, on its Facebook page, later described the breakfast as a “victory celebration” for the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade — which happened the previous afternoon. The post also featured a photo of Rodriguez-Fonts at a lectern speaking.

Judicial canons mandate judges and candidates avoid activities that could call into question their impartiality on a certain issue. The Supreme Court’s decision is likely to portend lawsuits across the country, and even possible prosecutions of people who violate Florida’s new law restricting the abortion procedure.

“The issue is one that could easily appear before him, in a civil or criminal context,” said Fingerhut, the FIU law professor.

The candidates breakfast, however, was planned well in advance of the Supreme Court’s decision. And in an email to the Herald’s editorial board, Rodriguez-Fonts said he spoke briefly, only to thank the coalition for inviting him to the event.

“As a sitting judge, I represent the entire community. As a candidate for re-election, I am taking my message to all groups in this community that invite me to speak. I am forbidden from endorsing any political position and will strictly abide by the rules set forth by the judicial canons,” he said in another email statement to the Herald. “Accordingly, my attendance at an event should not be construed as my endorsement of any political ideology. I will continue to do my job in a fair and neutral manner, as I have done in my past six years on the bench.”

Rodriguez-Fonts hasn’t been the only judicial candidate courted by the Christian Family Coalition. Cervera, who has skipped numerous legal organization candidate forums, also appeared at a “meet and greet” touted by the group — as did candidate Renier Diaz de la Portilla. The group “recommended” her as a candidate.

▪ In Circuit Group 20, Circuit Judge Robert Watson, appointed in 2019 to the circuit bench, is facing off against civil attorney Brenda Guerrero.

Watson is assigned to the criminal division and is presiding over several high-profile cases — he rejected a self-defense claim by a Kendall man who infamously killed a man in a dispute over dog poop. Guerrero is a former child-support division prosecutor in Miami-Dade.

▪ In County Group 42, Janowitz — a former civil attorney appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis two years ago — is being challenged by Garcia Priovolos, who is the only current prosecutor on the ballot.

One wrinkle in the race: The powerful South Florida Police Benevolent Association endorsed both candidates. “They’re both seen as highly qualified,” said PBA President Steadman Stahl.

Garcia Priovolos, however, did get the sole endorsement of the other local major cop union: the Fraternal Order of Police.

▪ In County Group 19, Jeffrey Kolokoff, another 2020 DeSantis appointee, is being challenged by Lissette De la Rosa, an insurance defense litigator.

▪ In County Court Group 5, longtime county judge Fred Seraphin faces a challenge from Renier Diaz de la Portilla, a former Miami-Dade school board member and part of the well-known Miami political family. His brother, Alex Diaz de la Portilla, is a Miami commissioner.

Renier Diaz de la Portilla also worked as a private lawyer and an assistant public defender — and he’s also lost his last three election bids.

Seraphin, a former Miami-Dade assistant public defender, became the county’s first Haitian-American judge. Gov. Jeb Bush appointed him to the bench in 2001.