Florida’s High Court Disciplines Judge for Campaign Interference

A Florida circuit judge will be publicly reprimanded for attempting to persuade an attorney to abandon her campaign against another judge, or to run against a different incumbent instead, the state’s highest court said Thursday.

Judge Richard Howard of Florida’s Fifth Judicial Circuit in Citrus County met with both the candidate, her husband and her law partner in April 2019. In those meetings, Howard said the incumbent she was challenging enjoyed strong support and her reasons for running “were not good enough,” according to the court’s order.

Other court documents identify the candidate as Pamela Vergara, who defeated Judge ...