A.G. Gancarski
Florida Politics has learned that there is a movement among many influential people in the Jacksonville legal community to persuade current Duval County Judge Charles Cofer to step down from the bench and run for public defender in Florida’s 4th Judicial Circuit.
Cofer, a judge since 1998, has vast experience in the Public Defender Office.
The position now held by beleaguered incumbent Matt Shirk, whose tenure is criticized almost as a matter of course in the Jacksonville area, has no candidates since Jacksonville Chief Financial Officer Mike Weinstein withdrew.
Cofer has strong advocates: one of them, former Florida Bar President Hank Coxe, who was unsparing in his endorsement of Cofer and his denunciations of Shirk.
“I and many friends are strongly urging Judge Charles Cofer to step down from the bench and run for the position,” Coxe wrote in an email Tuesday.
“Judge Cofer would bring integrity; the respect of the entire legal and non-legal community; an outstanding work ethic; and an effective ability to manage a staff. In my judgment Mr. Shirk comes up woefully short in all four categories as reflected in the Duval County Grand Jury Presentment,” Coxe wrote.
Coxe isn’t the only high profile local advocating for Judge Cofer. Another, off the record, asserts that a Cofer run would allow the candidate to take the high road while letting the media address Shirk’s various scandals and issues. Cofer would have the credibility to hit Shirk on what his biggest perceived failing has been: a failure to effectively represent indigent clients.
We have put a call into Cofer for comment, and we will have a follow-up story after we speak to him.
