Candidates line up for November judicial elections.

Two Supreme Court justices and 22 district court of appeal judges have filed for merit retention on the November general elections ballot.

At the circuit court level, candidates filed in 122 seats, of which 17 will have contested races. Those will go to voters in the August 31 primary election, with any runoffs being settled on the November ballot. Those without contests have been automatically elected, and will not appear on the ballot.

(Of interest to the Bar, Board of Governors Amy L. Smith, who leaves the board later this month, was elected without opposition to a 15th Circuit judgeship.)

Filings for country judgeships are not collected statewide, so results for the May 3-7 filing period for judicial races this year were not immediately available.

Supreme Court Justice Raoul G. Cantero III and Kenneth B. Bell will head the judicial ballot in November as both filed to seek merit retention. It will be the first time either justice has appeared on the merit retention ballot. Cantero joined the court in the fall of 2002, Bell in early 2003.

They will be on the ballot with 22 district court of appeal judges, who will appear on the ballot in their respective districts. They are:

* First District Court of Appeal--Judges Michael E. Allen, Edward T. Barfield, Paul Hawkes, Charles J. Kahn, Jr., Phil Padovano, and James R. Wolf.

* Second District Court of Appeal--Judges Charles T. Canady, Patricia J. Kelly, Stevan T. Northcutt, Craig C. Villanti, and Douglas A. Wallace.

* Third District Court of Appeal--Judges John G. Fletcher, Frank A. Shepherd, and Linda Ann Wells.

* Fourth District Court of Appeal--Judges Gary M. Farmer, Sr., Robert M. Gross, and Melanie G. May.

* Fifth District Court of Appeal--Judges Jacqueline R. Griffin, David A. Monaco, Earle W. Peterson, Jr., Winifred J. Sharp, and Vincent G. Torpy, Jr.

Contested circuit judge races are:

* Fifth Circuit--Stephen D. Spivey, Michael G. Takac, and Anthony M. Tatti in Group 10; and incumbent Judge Willard Pope and Scott Wynn in Group 24.

* Sixth Circuit--Jan Govan and incumbent Judge George W. Greer in Group 18; and Michael C. Berry, Sr., Jack Day, Cynthia Newton, Walter L. "Skip" Schafer, Jr., and Bill Vinson in Group 22.

* Eighth Circuit--Harvey Baxter, Craig Hall, Mark Moseley, and Dan Sikes in Group 9.

* 11th Circuit--Teresa M. Pooler and John Schlesinger in Group 3; Barbara Areces and incumbent D. Bruce Levy in Group 32; Don S. Cohn, Catherine B. Parks, William L. Thomas, and Josie M...