On Monday, the Florida Supreme Court decided that whoever is the next governor of Florida should be the one who decides who gets to appoint three Supreme Court justices to the Florida Supreme Court.
For a lot of voters that raises the stakes in the upcoming midterm election.
“It really matters who becomes the next governor,” said voter Rodney Gosa.
“We have a lot of stuff in their hands right now,” added Ashley Brown.
For some voters, it is now the key issue in the midterm elections.
“We’ve got to make the right decision, yeah,” said voter Cole Dominguez, “For sure.”
The Florida Supreme Court ruled Monday that whoever becomes governor in Florida gets to appoint three Supreme Court justices replacing three others retiring. In short, whoever wins will likely influence the state for decades to come.
“They are probably going to pick those people who also have the same viewpoints that they do, so when they’re choosing those people, essentially who you’re voting for, you’re also voting for those three people,” said Skyler Suttles, who says she has been watching the election closely.
As we've seen at the national level, elections have consequences.
Already, the Trump administration has been able to name two conservative-leaning judges to the U.S. Supreme Court, potentially shifting the balance of power.
And in Florida?
“Absolutely,” said 10News political expert Lars Hafner. “Because you’re talking about three Supreme Court justices for the State of Florida. And, while they don’t have the same life terms that United States Supreme Court has, you’re still talking about many issues that come before the Supreme Court,” said Hafner.
In addition to age limits, Florida does differ somewhat from the U.S. Supreme Court when it comes to Supreme Court nominees.
The governor, like the President, gets to make nominations. But in Florida, it’s not necessarily a lifetime appointment.
Under a system called merit retention, voters get to vote up or down on the Governor’s high-court selection during the next election cycle.
In fact, if you look at the upcoming midterm ballot, one of Governor Rick Scott’s appointments from 2016 is there with the question whether the justice should be retained in office.
“So, it’s a very different procedure here than it is in other places,” said 10News political Analyst Susan MacManus. “Voters can say whether to retain them or not.”
History shows nearly all nominees stay on the bench.
With the U.S. Supreme Court now shifting more conservative, and the possibility of landmark cases being sent back to the states, Florida’s Supreme Court could have a say on issues such as abortion, health care, and same-sex marriage.
“And let’s just remind the voters,” said Hafner, “about the year 2000 when we had Bush v. Gore - what happened with the Supreme Court.
Florida also has a judicial nominating committee which interviews and then recommends a list of qualified candidates to Florida’s Governor when there are openings on the High Court. It’s not yet clear if the candidates who had already been reviewed this past month will still be considered when the new governor takes office.
Regardless, whoever is nominated could potentially have decades of influence.
“The governor is not going to be there long, said voter Thomas Hemby, “But if he can appoint three out of seven, he can stack it to where he could influence his agenda for a long time.”
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