LEON COUNTY, Fla. — Republican gubernatorial candidate James Fishback will remain on Florida’s Aug. 18 primary ballot after a Leon County judge rejected Lt. Gov. Jay Collins’ challenge to his residency qualifications.
Circuit Judge David Frank ruled Monday that Collins did not present enough evidence to overcome Florida’s legal presumptions favoring continued residency and candidate access to the ballot.
“This Court will not be deciding the race between the Lieutenant Governor and Mr. Fishback,” Frank wrote. “That will be in the very sound hands of the voters.”
The final order denies Collins’ request to remove Fishback, declares that the Department of State properly certified his candidacy and says Fishback “shall remain qualified” for the Republican nomination for governor.
Judge finds D.C. records insufficient
Collins sued Fishback in June, arguing the candidate failed to meet the Florida Constitution’s requirement that a governor reside in the state for the seven years preceding the election.
During an expedited hearing last week, Collins’ attorneys presented voter-registration, mortgage, tax and homestead records they argued showed Fishback established legal residency in Washington, D.C., between 2019 and 2022.
Fishback voted in Washington during the 2020 presidential election, filed D.C. resident income-tax returns and signed mortgage paperwork describing a condominium there as his principal residence. Property-tax records also showed the condominium received a D.C. homestead deduction.
A forensic document examiner testified it was probable Fishback signed the disputed voter-registration form.
Frank acknowledged those records could carry consequences outside the Florida candidacy case.
“It may be true that the various election and financial filings and transactions about which the plaintiff complains could result in regulatory, maybe even more severe legal, repercussions for the defendant under Washington, D.C. law,” Frank wrote.
But the judge found they did not prove Fishback intended to abandon Florida as his permanent home.
Court credits Fishback’s explanation
Fishback testified for several hours that he never intended to move his legal domicile from Florida.
He acknowledged signing mortgage paperwork identifying the Washington condominium as his primary residence but said he rushed through the documents without reading them closely. He also characterized his 2020 D.C. vote as an inadvertent registration during the pandemic, saying he was staying with his parents and wanted to vote for President Donald Trump.
Frank found Fishback credible on the central issue of intent.
“Despite defendant stating at various points, or someone stating on his behalf, that his ‘residence’ was in Washington, D.C., defendant never had an actual subjective intent to move his permanent residency, his domicile, from Florida to Washington, D.C.,” the order states.
The judge also pointed to Fishback’s Florida upbringing, family relationships, driver’s license, vehicle registration, voting history and work with Incubate Debate, a statewide nonprofit operating student debate programs throughout Florida.
Frank found that Collins presented no witness who heard Fishback say he intended to leave Florida permanently and no document containing a clear declaration that he was changing his legal domicile from Florida to Washington.
“Simply put, plaintiff has not brought forth enough substantial and competent evidence to rebut these important presumptions,” Frank wrote.
Campaigns respond
Fishback’s campaign celebrated the ruling Monday, calling the lawsuit an attempt to remove a political opponent through the courts.
“It’s official. The disgraceful lawfare brought by Jay Collins and fueled by Byron Donalds has failed,” Fishback said in a campaign statement. “This isn’t just a victory for our campaign. It’s a victory for the Constitution and for every Floridian who believes elections should be decided by voters, not politicians trying to rig the system.”
Fishback also predicted he would defeat his Republican opponents in the primary, saying, “Today, they lost in court, and in 22 days they’ll lose at the ballot box.”
Collins’ attorney, Mark Meuser, criticized the ruling and argued the court improperly accepted Fishback’s explanation that he did not understand the legal significance of his Washington filings.
“It’s disappointing the court accepted Fishback’s novel legal theory that ‘ignorance of the law’ is now a defense when it comes to Florida residency,” Meuser said in a statement.
Meuser argued Fishback’s testimony amounted to admissions that he did not understand laws governing voter registration, mortgage documents, homestead exemptions and tax filings. He added that while the ruling allows Fishback to remain on the ballot, “his ignorance may be enough to keep him on the ballot, but who wants to vote for a candidate whose own sworn testimony is he committed mortgage fraud and doesn’t understand how the law works when it comes to election integrity and paying state income taxes.”
Meuser concluded that Fishback “may have been able to convince the court to leave him on the ballot, but in doing so, he demonstrated he does not have the mental capacity to govern himself, let alone Florida.”
Meuser did not indicate whether Collins plans to appeal the ruling.
Unless an appellate court intervenes, Fishback will remain on the Aug. 18 Republican primary ballot alongside Collins, U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds and former House Speaker Paul Renner.
Read order:
Leon County Judge order Fishback by Tampa Bay 28
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