Ballot changes name of game for candidates in judge races

Gone are the days of circuit court candidates being listed in alphabetical order. Those running have mixed reactions to the new law.

By SUE CARLTON

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 28, 2000

TAMPA -- In the race among four lawyers hoping to replace a retiring Hillsborough circuit judge, attorney Leland Baldwin looked to have one big advantage: a last name that starts with "B."

Traditionally, judicial candidates have been listed on the ballot in alphabetical order, which would have put Baldwin at the top of the list. Political consultants say in those races where voters often know little about the candidates, just being first can mean up to 5 percent of the vote.

But no more.

A recently enacted law says the order in which circuit judge candidates are listed will be determined not by the ABCs but by random drawing. Thursday, Baldwin learned she had gone from first to last on the list.

"It was definitely something I was counting on, that 3 to 4 percent," said the former prosecutor. "Historically, people don't know, they just punch the first one. It just means I have to work a little harder."

In the Pinellas-Pasco race, Judge Bill Webb was delighted to find his is the first name voters will see.

"With a name that begins with a "W,' though I'm proud of my father's name, I've always been at the end of the line," he said.

The change was an amendment to a larger bill that dealt with the language on ballots regarding merit retention. Sen. Don Sullivan, a Seminole Republican, offered the amendment suggesting the lottery method.

Sullivan said the idea was suggested to him by a judge. He refused to say who, only that it wasn't anyone currently running. He said it seemed fairer than giving a candidate an advantage for reasons that had nothing to do with qualifications or experience.

"At least it's going to make people think "I can't just run because my name starts with "A,' " he said.

The new law only affects circuit judges. County judges are still listed in alphabetical order.

To comply with the new law, Division of Elections officials in Tallahassee held their drawing last week. They printed judges' names on pieces of paper and put them into a tumbling basket used for raffles, which they rented from a party store.

In Tampa, candidate David Dee was pleasantly surprised to get a call from Elections Supervisor Pam Iorio on Thursday telling him he was now first.

"Today's a good day," he said.

Candidate Ellen Ware moved from last to second, making her the first woman on the ballot.

"I'm a lawyer, not a politician," Ware said. "If where your name is and being a woman is important -- I certainly can't imagine it would hurt."

In fact, Baldwin recently had her name legally changed to add the middle name "Anne," so she would not be mistaken for a man on the ballot.

In the Pinellas-Pasco race, attorney Don Peyton said he wasn't particularly bothered to learn that Webb would get first billing.

"As far as I'm concerned it does not give him an advantage," Peyton said. "And it seems like a fair thing to do."

Judicial races can be thorny for candidates, who cannot talk about controversial issues but must still make an impression on voters. The races are non-partisan and appear at the end of the ballot.

The first-name advantage generally applies "in a crowded ballot with a lot of unknowns," said Susan MacManus, a political science professor at the University of South Florida.

"It typically matters the most when there's a whole bunch of candidates and nobody's particularly well known," she said.

There is expected to be some controversy and protest, perhaps even lawsuits.

Lawyer Robert Foster, another Hillsborough candidate, learned Thursday that his luck was neither good nor bad. He would remain exactly where he would have been in alphabetical order: third.

"It doesn't bother me, doesn't affect me, doesn't concern me," Foster said.

But wouldn't he prefer to be first?

"Only in the end," he said. "Only in the vote."

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