Summary
affirming removal of qualified candidate from ballot for failure to comply with Florida's Resign-to-Run Law
Summary of this case from Jones v. SchillerOpinion
No. 1D08-3201.
July 18, 2008.
An appeal from the Circuit Court for Leon County. P. Kevin Davey, Judge.
Stephen Marc Slepin and Mallory E. Home of Maddox Home, PLLC, Tallahassee, for Appellant.
Ronald G. Meyer and Jennifer S. Blohm of Meyer and Brooks, P.A., Tallahassee, for Appellee Rehwinkel Vasilinda; and Harry 0. Thomas of Radey Thomas Yon Clark, P.A., Tallahassee, for Appellee Freddy Moore Todd.
Appellees Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda and Freddy Moore Todd filed separate actions, later consolidated, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief based on claims that Appellant Fred Varn, a candidate for the Florida House of Representatives, District 9, had violated section 99.012(3), Florida Statutes (2008), a provision of Florida's "resign to run" law, and seeking to have Varn's name removed from the August 2008 primary ballot. There were no disputed issues of material fact, and after a hearing on the merits of the request for declaratory judgment, the circuit court entered a Final Declaratory Judgment which found that Varn "failed to comply with F.S. § 99.012(3)(c) and (g) by not timely submitting his written resignation of his office with the Leon County School [B]oard in accordance with the requirements of those statutory provisions" and that "[t]he only legal remedy available to the Court is his removal from the August 26, 2008 primary ballot."
We have carefully considered the circuit court's order, the briefs of the parties, and the applicable law, and we conclude that the circuit court's reasoning and rulings are correct. The Final Declaratory Judgment is therefore AFFIRMED.
WEBSTER and PADOVANO, JJ., concur.