All 5 Pinellas County Judges up for re-election will retain their seats after no opposition materialized

Five Judges for the Pinellas County Court in the 6th Judicial Circuit have been re-elected to the bench after no challengers emerged before Friday’s qualifying deadline.

Group 2 County Judge Cathy Ann McKyton was first elected to the bench in 2012 and has been subsequently re-elected in 2016 and 2020. Prior to earning a judgeship, McKyton was an assistant statewide prosecutor in the State Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution. She also previously served as an Assistant State Attorney in the 6th Judicial Circuit. She earned her law degree in 1997 from Stetson University College of Law.

Aaron Weston Hubbard was re-elected to the bench in Group 5. Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed him in 2022, filling the vacancy created by the elevation of Brian Gnage from county court to the 6th Judicial Circuit.

He previously served as an Assistant State Attorney in the 13th Judicial Circuit in Hillsborough County, where he served as Chief of the Felony Division. Hubbard earned his law degree from the Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School in 2007.

Diane Croft will continue serving as judge in Group 7, where she was first appointed by DeSantis in 2021 to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of former Judge Myra Scott McNary.

Prior to her appointment, she served as the chief assistant statewide prosecutor in the Florida Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution. She also served as a judge advocate in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps of the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve. Croft earned her law degree from Suffolk University Law School in 2000.

Lorraine Kelly will continue to serve on the bench in Group 16. She was first elected to the bench in 2006 and has been retained in all subsequent elections. Kelly previously worked as a Public Defender in the 6th Judicial Circuit. She’s been a practicing lawyer since 1993 and formerly taught as an adjunct faculty member in the now-defunct Eckerd College Program for Experienced Learners. She was named Public Defender of the Year in 2001. She earned her law degree from Florida State University College of Law.

Finally, Susan Bedinghaus has been retained in Group 17, where she was first elected in 2006. Prior to her judgeship, Bedinghaus served as an Assistant Attorney General in the Florida Attorney General’s Child Support Enforcement Division. She also previously worked as a prosecutor in the circuit, where she handled felony, misdemeanor, juvenile, domestic battery, Baker Act and child abuse cases. She also previously had her own private practice where she focused on civil law. Bedinghaus earned her law degree from Stetson University College of Law in 1997.

None of the Judges raised any funds for their re-election campaigns.

Prospective candidates faced a noon deadline to qualify for the race.