President Donald Trump has spent much of his second term battling woke judges across federal and state jurisdictions nationwide.
While Trump has lost his share of legal battles, he’s also won a fair number of them and, in at least one instance this past week, got to witness some karma as well.
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A 30-year-old attorney has narrowly defeated a longtime incumbent judge in a closely watched judicial race that drew heightened attention because of the judge’s controversial ruling involving Trump’s presidential library.
Destiny Alvarez, a Coral Gables attorney who has practiced law for five years, secured enough support to avoid a runoff and unseat Miami-Dade Judge Mavel Ruiz, 65, who has spent more than a decade on the bench.
Unofficial election results showed Alvarez receiving 50.51% of the vote compared with 49.49% for Ruiz, a margin of just over one percentage point.
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More than 224,000 ballots were cast in the razor-thin contest, delivering an upset victory to Alvarez and ending Ruiz’s lengthy tenure on the Miami-Dade bench.
Alvarez’s victory is particularly notable given her relatively limited courtroom experience compared with the veteran judge she defeated.
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During her five years as an attorney, Alvarez has worked primarily on civil litigation, insurance disputes and matters involving homeowners associations and condominium law.
Despite that legal experience, Alvarez acknowledged during the campaign that she has never taken a case through trial before either a jury or a judge, the Miami Herald reported.
In a statement Wednesday afternoon, Alvarez said she was “overwhelmed with gratitude for the extraordinary trust the voters of Miami-Dade County have placed in me.”
“Thank you, Miami-Dade, for this profound honor,” Alvarez said. “I look forward to working hard every day to serve this incredible community.”
For her part, Ruiz also thanked her supporters, adding that serving the Miami-Dade area was an honor.
“I look forward to the future with optimism. When one door closes, another always opens,” Ruiz said.
“I have the utmost respect and gratitude for the men and women who labor in our courthouses to do justice, day in and day out,” Ruiz continued.
“God bless the people of Miami Dade County and the United States of America.”
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Alvarez’s successful campaign attracted considerable attention in Florida’s legal and political circles, both because of the unusual dynamics surrounding the contest and allegations Ruiz raised in a lawsuit filed during the race.
Florida judicial elections are officially nonpartisan, but the contest became increasingly entangled with national politics as Ruiz’s previous ruling involving President Donald Trump’s presidential library emerged as a major issue.
In June, the Florida Bulldog reported that prominent Trump allies were financially supporting efforts to defeat Ruiz after expressing anger over her decision in the presidential library case.
That outside involvement transformed what ordinarily would have been a relatively low-profile judicial election into a closely watched political battle over Ruiz’s record on the bench.
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The controversy surrounding Ruiz stemmed from a 2025 lawsuit filed by historian Marvin Dunn challenging Miami Dade College’s proposed transfer of downtown Miami property for President Donald Trump’s presidential library.
Ruiz initially blocked the land transfer, finding that Dunn was likely to establish that the college’s Board of Trustees had failed to provide the public with an adequate opportunity to weigh in before voting on the proposal.
The dispute subsequently changed course after the trustees held another vote on the transfer.
Ruiz then lifted her order blocking the transaction and dismissed the lawsuit, clearing the way for the land transfer to proceed.
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But questions about Ruiz’s handling of the case did not disappear.
Miami Dade College’s Board of Trustees later successfully sought to have Ruiz disqualified from presiding over future litigation involving the college and the presidential library, arguing that her conduct created concerns about whether she could remain impartial.
Among the incidents cited was Ruiz’s decision to hug Dunn following a court hearing, which the college pointed to as evidence of what it characterized as personal bias in his favor.
This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
