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Wesley Tibbals Political Party

Wesley Tibbals is a judge on the 13th Circuit Court of Appeal in Florida. His current term will end on January 3, 2023. After the general election was canceled, Tibbals gained re-election as a judge of the Florida 13th Circuit Court in the primary on August 23, 2022. Tibbals was appointed to the circuit court by Gov. Rick Scott (R) on March 25, 2015, to fill the vacancy left by Judge Debra K. Behnke’s departure. On August 30, 2016, he was the single contender that filed for the primary election. Due to a lack of opposition, the election was canceled, and Tibbals was automatically elected to a full six-year term.

About Wesley D. Tibbals:

The Honorable Wesley D. Tibbals is a judge for Hillsborough County’s Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Court in the East Circuit. Former Governor Rick Scott appointed him to the Circuit Court in 2015. However, he was appointed to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of Hon. Debra K. Behnke. In 1995, Judge Tibbals received his B.A. in political science from the University of Florida. In 1998, he received his J.D. from the University of Florida’s Fredric G. Levin College of Law. Tibbals has been a shareholder at Akerman LLP since 2000 before being appointed to the bench. He also practiced law at Sivyer, Barlow, and Watson, P.A. and Thompson, Sizemore, and Gonzalez. His fields of practice as a corporate litigation attorney included mass tort product liability defense, Fair Labor Standards Act collection action defense, non-competition/trade secret litigation, and Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act litigation.

Wesley Tibbals Political Party

 Judge Tibbals served on the Circuit Court as an associate administrative judge and administrative judge for the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Courts East Circuit. He has also presided over the General Civil and Unified Family Court Divisions of the court. However, he has served on the boards of the Hillsborough County Bar Association, the American Bar Association, and the Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division.

About The Elections:

In 2016, all 20 circuit courts in Florida had seats up for election. Only one contender filed for each of the 151 seats available for election. However, the uncontested contests were terminated, and the sole contestants were elected automatically. Only 10 of the 26 opposing races had more than two candidates file.

Selection Method And Qualification:

The Florida Circuit Court has 597 judges that are elected in nonpartisan elections. They serve six-year terms and must run for re-election if they want to keep their position.  However, the chief judge is elected by a peer vote and serves for two years. A judge must be a qualified voter, a citizen of the state,

admitted to practice law in the state for five years, and less than 75 years old to serve on this court.

Moreover, Nonpartisan primary for Florida 13th Circuit Court Incumbent Wesley Tibbals defeated Belinda Noah in the August 23, 2022 primary for Florida 13th Circuit Court.