GOP lawmaker urges Florida Supreme Court to overturn disqualification from Senate race

Brevard County Republican Rep. Debbie Mayfield wants the state’s highest court to force the Florida Department of State to include her on the ballot for the special election for the state Senate seat she held for eight years.

Mayfield’s ask to the Florida Supreme Court came a day after the Division of Elections wrote in a memo that she couldn’t appear on the ballot because of Florida’s constitutional term limits of two four-year terms for state senators. She stepped away from the Senate District 19 seat because of the term limits last year and won the House District 32 seat in November.

Seeking emergency relief from the court, Mayfield emphasized that Article IV, Section 4 of the Florida Constitution, which outlines the term limits, applies to candidates running for re-election and claims elections officials lack authority to determine whether she could appear on the ballot.

The emergency petition targets Secretary of State Cord Byrd, Division of Elections Director Maria Matthews, and Brevard Supervisor of Elections Tim Bobanic.

“Neither the Secretary, nor the Director acting under his authority, have the right to disqualify Mayfield as a candidate for the SD 19 Special Election and prevent her name from appearing on the Special Election primary and general election ballots,” the petition states.

“This is because Mayfield’s Qualifying Paperwork was duly and timely submitted, and is complete on its face. As such, pursuant to statute, the Department of State, which has a purely ministerial role in processing the Qualifying Paperwork, is bound to accept it.”

The court ordered the state officials to respond to the emergency order by Feb. 10.

The lawmaker characterized her disqualification as political payback from the DeSantis administration for switching her endorsement in the presidential race from the governor to Donald Trump.

“Today Gov. DeSantis used the executive branch to punish me for endorsing Donald J Trump for President,” she said in a statement posted on X on Wednesday. “He has weoponized [sic] the Department of State just like Biden weopanized [sic] the DOJ against @realDonaldTrump. The law is on my side and we will fight for the people of Brevard.”

April 1 primary

The seat in Mayfield’s former district opened after Republican Sen. Randy Fine, her successor, resigned to run for Congress. The primary is scheduled for April 1 and the general election for June 10.

Mayfield notified the division of her resignation from her House seat last month, which is effective on June 9, to be able to run for the Senate seat. The qualifying deadline for the Senate seat was Tuesday at noon, with three Republicans qualifying. The deadline for the special House race was Wednesday at noon.

The department of state did not immediately respond to a request for comment.