4th Circuit State Attorney race ‘sham candidate’ case put up for Supreme Court consideration

The case of Carol Scott, et al v. Mike Hogan, et al — better known as the “sham candidate” case in Florida’s 4th Circuit state attorney race — has been requested to be added to the Florida Supreme Court docket by the lawyers for Carol Scott’s side.

The plaintiff’s lawyers are invoking the discretionary jurisdiction of the court, which does not guarantee the court will actually review the case, much less in a timely fashion ahead of the Aug. 30 primary.

As the Florida Bar observes, “[w]hile there are many different pathways that lead toward discretionary review in the Florida Supreme Court, most will dead end.”

As has been pointed out throughout the controversy related to the last-minute write-in candidacy of Kenny Leigh in the race for state attorney, the Florida Supreme Court gave wide berth to write-in candidates, however spurious their candidacies may seem on the outside, via the Brinkmann v. Francois decision.

Angela Corey, the incumbent state attorney in the 4th judicial circuit, has contended repeatedly the Florida Supreme Court has ruled on the “legal and ethical aspects of write-in candidacies.” Even though many point out that Corey’s former campaign manager Alexander Pantinakis, a co-defendant in the case, filed Leigh’s paperwork in Tallahassee implies collusion, two courts have already rejected that premise in light of the Brinkmann decision.