Judge Brent Shore, who sits on the county court in the Fourth Judicial Circuit in Jacksonville, stepped down from his position on the canvassing board, which reviews vote-by-mail and other ballots and certifies election results, just hours after the Florida Times-Union reported that he had been donating to the Trump campaign for years.
Federal Election Commission data show that Judge Shore has made a number of small-dollar donations over the last three years to Donald J. Trump for President Inc., the Republican National Committee and WinRed, a Republican fundraising platform.
The Times-Union also reported that Judge Shore's lawn in Atlantic Beach, Florida, has a Trump sign and two signs for Republican U.S. Rep. John Rutherford and that the judge's house sports a Trump-Pence banner and four Trump stickers on window panels.
The campaign displays and donations are violations of Florida's Code of Judicial Conduct, which prohibits public endorsements of or contributions to a candidate or political organization, and the rules governing canvassing board members.
"We're all a little surprised that he found himself in this situation," said Jacksonville City Council member Michael Boylan, who sits on the canvassing board. "The first thing they tell you in this process is the importance of not being proactive in any campaigns."
Boylan sits on the board with Supervisor of Elections Mike Hogan and a county judge, as required by state law. The administrative judge on the board is County Judge Gary Flower; Judge Shore was one of several alternates who filled in when Judge Flower's schedule kept him from the canvassing board meetings.
Judge Shore did not respond to a request for comment late Thursday.
Boylan said he could not cite an example of Judge Shore showing any kind of preference while canvassing ballots, but once the news broke, he called for the judge to step down because of the optics of the situation.
On Thursday afternoon after Judge Shore's resignation, the New Florida Majority, which works to increase the voting power of people of color in Florida, and other groups called for a review of the ballots that have been canvassed so far.
"We must protect the right to vote, especially in big counties including Duval," Moné Holder, the senior program director for the New Florida Majority, said in a statement. "Every vote matters and must be counted."
Boylan said he stands by the work the board has done so far and the approximately 800 ballots it has reviewed already. But he said he would be happy to go over them again with the groups requesting a review for the sake of transparency and trust in the process.
"The credibility of the system is important to me," he said.
--Editing by Bruce Goldman.
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