With the kickoff of early voting in Pinellas and a little more than a week to go before the election, Dwight Dudley mailed out a flyer plugging his legal experience.
Dudley, a Democratic state representative, is running against incumbent Myriam Irizarry for the County Judge Group 9 seat.
Dudley is campaigning under the slogan, “Dudley will Do-Right” and “Respect. Experience. Justice.” His mailer lists endorsements from former Pinellas Sheriff Jim Coats, the West Central Florida Labor Council AFL-CIO, the Florida National Organization of Women PAC and the Sun Coast Police Benevolent Association.
But it’s the mailer’s tagline that sums up Dudley’s theme: “Real courtroom experience…fair & impartial.”
The mailer says Dudley, a lawyer, has had thousands of civil, felony and misdemeanor clients; thousands of hearings and about 100 jury trials; and nearly 30 years of courtroom experience. It points out that he was twice elected to the state House and was admitted to the bar in 1989.
His opponent, the mailer says, was admitted to the bar in 1995 and has represented zero clients in civil or criminal court as a Florida attorney and has tried zero criminal cases as a Florida lawyer. She got her seat on the bench by appointment. Gov. Rick Scott picked her in July 2015 to succeed Judge Walt Fullerton, who resigned.
Irizarry could not be reached for comment.
But her campaign responded with a jab of its own: “Experience matters. She is the ONLY candidate who is a judge.”
She provided her own set of data: 8,000-plus arraignments, motions, and hearings presided over in last year; 30-plus jury trials presided over in last year.
It adds that she was admitted to law practice in 1981 and is licensed to practice in Florida, New Jersey and in front of the Supreme Court. She has tried cases as a public defender and private attorney. And, she represented the Pinellas County Clerk of Court from 2003 to 2015.
Judicial races are non-partisan. All voters can cast a ballot in the Aug. 30 election for judge.
