Florida’s resign-to-run law is now at the center of legal disputes in Central Florida including the Orange County Clerk of Courts race and a challenge brought by Lake County Commissioner Anthony Sabatini over his recent campaign for Congress.
The law requires elected officials to submit a resignation letter from their current position before qualifying as a candidate in another public office if the terms of the two offices would overlap. The law has been on the books in Florida for decades, although state lawmakers have amended it several times in recent years most recently creating an exception for candidates running for president or vice president.
This law has repeatedly led to confusion and questions about whether a candidate should be allowed to stay on the ballot according to UCF Political Science Professor Aubrey Jewett.
“We have seen almost every election cycle candidates not quite understand what their obligations are under this law and not do it correctly,” he says.
Critics argue it discourages qualified candidates from entering a race because they risk losing the job they already have, and it can leave some voters without representation for months. Supporters say the law discourages elected officials from campaigning for another job while still serving in their current one, and it also gives potential candidates advance notice that a seat could become vacant.
A congressional campaign challenge
The law isn’t just the subject of debate. Resign-to-run rules are at the center of two legal disputes with ties to Central Florida. The first involves Lake County Commissioner and attorney Anthony Sabatini. Earlier this year, Sabatini announced he was running for Congress to replace retiring Republican U.S. Rep. Daniel Webster. Rather than resign from his commission seat as required by law, Sabatini sued. He said that Florida’s statute on resigning to run treats candidates for federal office differently than candidates for state office.
“If you're a state office holder and you're seeking to get another state office, the law just requires you to resign before you can qualify. It's not legal to do that for a state office seeker seeking federal office because that would violate the qualifications clause of the U.S. Constitution,” Sabatini argues.
A federal judge rejected Sabatini’s request to block the law, ruling he would have to resign from the Lake County Commission if he wanted to run for Florida’s 11th Congressional District in the U.S. House. Given his options, Sabatini withdrew from the congressional race last month and remained on the Lake County Commission.
Orange County race legal dispute
Sabatini is also involved in another resign-to-run case in Central Florida. In this case, he is the attorney arguing that the law should be enforced. Sabatini is representing Rick Singh in a lawsuit seeking to remove Orange County Commissioner Maribel Gomez Cordero from the ballot in the Orange County Clerk of Courts race. Singh and Gomez Cordero are two of the candidates for Orange County Clerk in the August primary. The suit claims that Gomez Cordero violated the law when she filed to run for County clerk without resigning from her current commission seat.
“It’s a harsh remedy but the statute requires her to be removed from the ballot, so she is most likely going to be removed from the ballot in her quest for Orange County Clerk of Court,” according to Sabatini.
Sabatini says the final hearing in this case is scheduled for later this month.
Central Florida Public Media reached out to Gomez Cordero but did not hear back. We will update this article if we do.
