You can’t blame Angela Corey for being concerned that she might lose her job in November given the recent spate of district attorney elections in which once shoo-in incumbents have been thrown out of office following allegations against them of unethical behavior, zealously pro-carceral tendencies and police-shooting cover-ups. See: Forrest Allgood in Mississippi, Dale Cox in Louisiana, Anita Alvarez in Illinois, Timothy McGinty in Cleveland. These losses have mostly been suffered in the primaries rather than the general election – a trend Corey likely took note of when a reform-minded candidate, Melissa Nelson, entered her own race a week ago to vie for the Republican ticket.
But you should be taken aback at the tactic her supporters have used to try to rig the election. Up until two days ago, only Republican candidates were running for the office of State’s Attorney for the 4th Judicial Circuit (Duval, Clay and Nassau Counties). Then, earlier this week, a write-in candidate suddenly entered the race – the paperwork for whom was filed by Corey’s campaign manager. This effectively closes the primary to Republican voters only, where otherwise it would have been open to all voters.
In order to understand the significance of what happened, it’s useful to know the three basic ways that an individual can become a candidate for office in Florida: 1. You can seek the nomination of a recognized political party; 2. You can run as an independent candidate; or 3. You can run as a write-in candidate. By statute, a write-in candidate goes on the general election ballot – not on the primary. And the name of the candidate won’t even appear on the ballot, as editorialist Ron Littlepage noted yesterday in the Florida Times-Union:
Instead they will be represented by blank lines that can be filled in.
In a wacky ruling last February, the Florida Supreme Court said having those blanks on the November ballot was sufficient to close a primary, which flies in the face of a constitutional amendment voters approved in 1998 calling for more voter access.
The effect of a write-in candidate entering the race is three-fold: (a) there will be a general election, not merely a primary election (because now there are not merely Republicans running, but also a write-in); (b) as a result of that, under Florida law the Republican primary – that would have otherwise been open to all voters, including Democrats and Independents, now switches to closed (i.e. Republican only); (c) and the practical impact of that is to make it more likely that Corey will win the primary. According to Ron Littlepage, the move will disenfranchise “440,000 voters in the three counties”.
Though Corey originally responded to media that “It wouldn’t have been my operation” that filed the paperwork for the write-in candidate, her campaign manager, Alexander Pantinakis, admitted to the press on Monday evening:
“I received and submitted Kenny Leigh’s documents on Thursday, May 5th solely in my capacity as the Duval County Republican State Committeeman,” … “Throughout my time as State Committeeman, I have always been a proponent of ensuring that only registered Republicans select Republican nominees for office and would question any Republican candidate who would reject that idea.”
These last-minute machinations give those voters in Jacksonville – Republican or otherwise – who want to hold Corey accountable all the more reason to do so in the August primary. This previous post outlines the allegations of unethical behavior and misuse of discretion that have plagued Corey as State’s Attorney. We will continue to watch this race closely.
Angela Corey plays favorites and refuses to investigate her pet detectives and their families.
Check out Duval County case 2014-CA-007716, Gilbreath (Kerry Dale) v. Teresa Watson.
Watson is Gilbreath’s sister-in-law.
Gilbreath is Angela Corey’s favorite and primary detective.
The case resulted from a situation where Watson refused to participate or condone the actions of Gilbreath’s wife, Denise Watson, (former States Attorney Prosecutor and current family lawyer), when Denise attempted to bribe Teresa to not object when Denise took papers turning over their mothers significant property holdings in Georgia to Denise, to be signed by their mother while their mother was under heavy narcotics, in a nursing home physical rehab facility.
The November 12, 2014 Defendant’s Answer and Counterclaim are locked because of the illegal activity detailed by Defendant against Detective Gilbreath and his wife, Denise Watson. However, Defendant’s 11-17-14 and 11-24-14 Affidavits in Support of are only secured such that a request must be submitted to obtain copies.
In Judge Virginia Norton’s 3-13-2014 ORDER on Motions, she iterated that she was referring this to the States’ Attorney’s Office. Over and over again, through the months of hearings, Judge Norton kept reprimanding Detective Gilbreath and his attorney, Michael Price, that this case should never been filed in that higher level court.
Assuming that Judge Norton carried out her referral, Angela Corey should have recused her office from any investigation, and it should have been referred to another jurisdiction.
It was not.
One final note – Watson has mentioned to me that when she searched the Duval County Clerk of Court website, she finds numerous evictions actions of a Teresa Watson, through the years. She wants it stressed that SHE is not the same Teresa Watson, and never has lived in Duval County until 2013, and lived only at Plaintiff’s condo until March of 2015.
M