{"id":259604,"date":"2026-05-05T19:20:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T19:20:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/259604\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T19:20:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T19:20:19","slug":"andrea-demichael-lands-huge-slate-of-central-florida-endorsements-in-circuit-judge-bid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/259604\/","title":{"rendered":"Andrea DeMichael lands huge slate of Central Florida endorsements in circuit Judge bid"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than 20 local elected officials spanning Florida\u2019s 10th Judicial Circuit are endorsing Andrea DeMichael for Circuit Court Judge in Group 24, ranging from City Council and Commission members to County Commissioners and constitutional officers.<\/p>\n

DeMichael faces one opponent in the race, Candice Nixon. The 10th Circuit serves Hardee, Highlands and Polk counties, including nearly 729,000 residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am deeply grateful for the endorsement and support of these respected law enforcement leaders and local elected officials. Their trust underscores a shared commitment to the rule of law and to a judiciary that is fair, impartial, and grounded in the Constitution,\u201d DeMichael said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a judicial candidate, I believe a judge\u2019s duty is to faithfully apply the United States Constitution, the Florida Constitution, and the laws enacted by our Legislature \u2014 not to rewrite them based on personal views. The same legal standards should apply to everyone, every time. I am committed to a courtroom that is balanced, professional, and even handed (that) protects individual rights and reinforces the principle that justice depends on the law and the facts, not on status or influence.\u201d<\/p>\n

DeMichael\u2019s endorsers include:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 State Fraternal Order of Police<\/p>\n

\u2014 Highlands County Sheriff Paul Blackman<\/p>\n

\u2014 Hardee County Sheriff Vent Crawford<\/p>\n

\u2014 Polk County Commission\u00a0Chair Martha Santiago<\/p>\n

\u2014 Polk County Commission Vice Chair Bill Braswell<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Polk County School Board Vice Chair Travis Keyes<\/p>\n

\u2014 Frostproof City Council member Adam W. Greenway\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2014 Frostproof City Council\u00a0member Austin Gravely<\/p>\n

\u2014 Lakeland City Commissioner Ashley Troutman<\/p>\n

\u2014 Winterhaven City Commissioner Chad Davis<\/p>\n

\u2014 Mulberry City Commission Vice Mayor Neil Devine<\/p>\n

\u2014 Mulberry City Commissioner Dawn McDonald<\/p>\n

\u2014 Highlands City Commissioner Kevin Robers<\/p>\n

\u2014 Lakeland City Commissioner Mike Musick<\/p>\n

\u2014 Lakeland City Commissioner Terry Coney<\/p>\n

\u2014 Bartow City Commissioner Trish Pfeiffer<\/p>\n

\u2014 Auburndale City Commissioner Travis Avery<\/p>\n

\u2014 Davenport City Commission Mayor Donna Fellows-Coffey<\/p>\n

\u2014 Dundee Town Commission Mayor Joe Garrison<\/p>\n

\u2014 Lakeland City Commission Mayor Pro Tem Guy LaLonde Jr.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Former State Attorney Jerry Hill<\/p>\n

DeMichael has more than 16 years of legal experience as a trial lawyer, former prosecutor and law firm owner. She was born and raised in Polk County and has spent her career in Florida courtrooms.<\/p>\n

DeMichael is also a military spouse, and was previously stationed with her husband in San Diego where she was recognized for her advocacy on behalf of domestic violence survivors.<\/p>\n

She has served in leadership roles with the Florida Bar, including as Chair of the Military and Veterans Affairs Committee. She\u2019s running on a platform centered on following the law and exercising judicial restraint while delivering equal justice under the law.<\/p>\n

DeMichael has raised nearly $16,000<\/a> for her judicial bid, and loaned her campaign another $15,000. Her opponent has raised<\/a> just $1,000 for the race, and added a $10,000 loan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than 20 local elected officials spanning Florida\u2019s 10th Judicial Circuit are endorsing Andrea DeMichael for Circuit Court…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":259605,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[112365,112366,112367,112368,112369,112370,112371,112372,112373,112374,28,30,29,112375,112376,112377,6106,112378,112379,112380,112381,112382,112383,112384,112385,112386,112387,112388],"class_list":["post-259604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-adam-w-greenway","tag-andrea-demichael","tag-ashley-troutman","tag-austin-gravely","tag-bill-braswell","tag-candice-nixon","tag-chad-davis","tag-circuit-court-judge","tag-dawn-mcdonald","tag-donna-fellows-coffey","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-guy-lalonde","tag-jerry-hill","tag-joe-garrison","tag-jr","tag-kevin-robers","tag-martha-santiago","tag-mike-musick","tag-neil-devine","tag-paul-blackman","tag-tenth-judicial-circuit","tag-terry-coney","tag-travis-avery","tag-travis-keyes","tag-trish-pfeiffer","tag-vent-crawford"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259604\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}