Voters Elect Diaz To The Judicial Bench, Two Incumbents Lose Spots

MIAMI (CBSMiami) --  Miami assistant city attorney Veronica Diaz was voted to be on the judicial bench while two of four incumbent judges lost their spots.

Diaz, 36, defeated Miami-Dade School Board Member Renier Diaz de la Portilla with 57 percent while he had 43 percent with 722 of 812 precincts reporting.

According to our news partners the Miami Herald, it was a most hotly contested judicial race.

Diaz told the paper on Tuesday, "The people of Miami-Dade realized they wanted someone with experience and who wasn't a politician."

While Diaz won a spot on the bench, Fleur Jeannine Lobree lost her second judicial election with 45 percent of the vote compared to defense lawyer Mavel Ruiz's lead of 55 percent with 722 of 812 of the precincts reporting.

County Judge Nuria Saenz lost to personal injury attorney Victoria Ferrer who got 64 percent of the vote with 711 of 812 precincts reporting while Saenz had 36 percent.

With 711 of 812 precincts reporting, Current County Judge Jacqueline Schwartz led the vote with 50 percent while her opponents Frank Bocanegra was at 31 percent and Rachel Glorioso Dooley was at 19 percent.

Meantime, incumbent circuit judge Rod Smith won his race against  Christian Carrazana after Smith had major support from South Florida's legal community.  

In total,  32 circuit judges and seven county judges kept their seats after no one chose to run against them.

For real-time election results, click here.

(©2014 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald contributed material for this report.)

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