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Destiny Alvarez and Judge Mavel Ruiz are running for judge in 11th Circuit Court Group 67.<\/p>\n
A young lawyer narrowly beat out an incumbent judge in a judicial race that became contentious due to the judge\u2019s controversial ruling in the Trump presidential library case.<\/p>\n
Destiny Alvarez, 30, a Coral Gables attorney of five years, appeared to avoid a runoff, ahead by just over 1 percentage point. She is unseating Mavel Ruiz, 65, a Miami-Dade judge of more than a decade.<\/p>\n
Final election results put Alvarez at 50.51% of the vote and Ruiz at 49.49%. More than 224,000 ballots were counted in the razor-thin race.<\/p>\n
Alvarez, who has handled civil litigation, insurance disputes and HOA and condominium law, hasn\u2019t tried a case in front of a jury or a judge.<\/p>\n
Alvarez\u2019s successful bid for the judicial seat was a topic of conversation in legal and political circles, namely due to the nature of the race \u2014 and the allegations Judge Ruiz made in a lawsuit she filed. Judicial races are supposed to be non-partisan.<\/p>\n
In June, the Florida Bulldog published an article detailing how Alvarez\u2019s campaign was being bankrolled by Trump allies<\/a> who were irate by Ruiz\u2019s ruling in the presidential library case.<\/p>\n In 2025, ruling in a lawsuit brought by historian Marvin Dunn, Ruiz blocked the transfer of land by Miami Dade College in downtown Miami for the Trump presidential library. Ruiz found that the historian would likely be able to prove that the college\u2019s Board of Trustees denied the public access to weigh in on the plans before they voted.<\/p>\n Ruiz reversed her block on the land transfer after trustees took a do-over vote, and dismissed the case. Afterward, the college Board of Trustees successfully sought to disqualify her from presiding over future cases related to the college and the library, saying she was personally biased in favor of Dunn. Ruiz hugged him after a hearing.<\/p>\n Judicial race ends in a lawsuit<\/p>\n In a lawsuit filed shortly before the election, Ruiz accused Alvarez of conspiring with politically connected individuals to send out text messages that attack her partiality as a judge and falsely state she was a communist who hates the United States.<\/p>\n Ruiz, in the suit, alleges that a \u201cnetwork of politically affiliated persons\u201d recruited and financed Alvarez to run against her. They then organized the \u201ccoordinated campaign of disinformation\u201d directly tied to her ruling.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Candidate conspired to take down Miami judge over Trump ruling, suit alleges<\/a><\/p>\n Ruiz was the target of mass text blasts that labeled the incumbent judge of more than a decade a \u201ccommunist\u201d who hates the United States and uses the \u201cjudiciary as a weapon to attack conservative patriots in our courts,\u201d according to the complaint. One of the messages, sent in Spanish, also said Ruiz \u201cprevented\u2019 President Donald J. Trump from building his Presidential Library in Miami.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe accusation that a sitting judge is a \u2018communist\u2019 who hates her country is a false assertion of fact, not rhetorical hyperbole,\u201d Ruiz\u2019s lawsuit said. \u201cIt imputes to [Ruiz] allegiance to an ideology and to organizations devoted to the overthrow of the government of the United States, disloyalty to her country, and characteristics and a condition incompatible with the impartial exercise of judicial office.\u201d<\/p>\n Ruiz also sued several political committees and organizations; Nicholas Alvarez, Alvarez\u2019s husband, who is a political lobbyist; Alejandro Miranda, a political operative and manager of two of the PACs; and Damian Tapia, the registered agent of several of the PACS.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Candidate wants lawsuit accusing her of conspiring against Miami judge thrown out<\/a><\/p>\n In a motion to dismiss, Alvarez\u2019s attorney Brian O. Cross stated that Ruiz\u2019s lawsuit is an abuse of power intended to intimidate the judge\u2019s adversaries and silence \u201cquintessential political opinion and rhetorical hyperbole.\u201d<\/p>\n The filing also says the lawsuit against Alvarez targets political opinions and rhetorical statements that are protected by the First Amendment.<\/p>\n \u201cThe message to every Miami-Dade voter, donor, and volunteer is unmistakable: support this judge\u2019s opponent, and this judge will put you in a caption,\u201d the motion says.<\/p>\n This story was originally published August 18, 2026 at 10:48 PM.<\/p>\n
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