A Brevard County judicial candidate and local voter filed an emergency petition with the Florida Supreme Court on April 24, 2026, seeking to block Governor Ron DeSantis from canceling a judicial election and replacing it with a political appointment. The lawsuit, Wagner and Adkins v. DeSantis, was filed by Melbourne attorney Jessica J. Travis on behalf of candidate Margaret 'Maggie' Wagner and voter Marcelle 'Marcie' Adkins. It challenges DeSantis' interpretation of a retirement letter from Judge Benjamin Garagozlo, which the governor claims constitutes a resignation, thereby removing the election from the ballot.
Judge Garagozlo, who has served on the Brevard County Court for nearly 20 years, wrote to Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Carlos Muniz on April 15, stating he planned to 'retire from the bench effective December 31, 2026.' The letter did not use the word 'resign' and was addressed to the chief justice, not the governor. Wagner, who had collected nearly 2,000 petition signatures and filed all required paperwork with the Brevard County Supervisor of Elections, argues the governor's move violates Florida's constitutional process for judicial elections.
The case has drawn attention from national legal outlets like Law360, which contacted Travis hours after the filing. The petition asserts that DeSantis' action stripped voters of their right to elect their own judge, as the replacement for Garagozlo, whose term expires January 5, 2027, was supposed to be decided through an election this year. The Florida Supreme Court has docketed the case, and a hearing date has not yet been scheduled.
Wagner and Adkins' legal team contends that the governor's interpretation of the retirement letter as a resignation is legally unsound. They argue that Garagozlo's intent was to retire, not resign, and that the state's judicial election process must be upheld. The lawsuit seeks an injunction to reinstate the election before the December 31, 2026, deadline.