A closely watched Florida election produced a dramatic upset Tuesday as voters removed a longtime incumbent from the bench by an extraordinarily narrow margin.
The result follows months of national attention surrounding a controversial court battle, questions about judicial impartiality and a valuable piece of downtown Miami property.
Miami-Dade voters unseated Circuit Judge Mavel Ruiz, who temporarily blocked the transfer of property intended for President Donald Trump’s future presidential library.
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Attorney Destiny Alvarez defeated Ruiz by just 2,073 votes in the nonpartisan judicial election and received enough support to avoid a November runoff.
Preliminary Miami-Dade election results showed Alvarez receiving 113,215 votes, or 50.46 percent, compared with 111,142 votes, or 49.54 percent, for Ruiz.
All 767 participating precincts had reported, although the results remained unofficial pending the review of provisional ballots and certification by the Canvassing Board.
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The victory was particularly notable because Alvarez is 30 years old and challenged an incumbent who has served on Florida’s 11th Judicial Circuit since 2015.
Incumbent Miami-Dade judges also frequently win reelection without attracting challengers, making Tuesday’s result an unusual judicial upset.
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Ruiz became a nationally recognized figure following a legal dispute involving land intended for Trump’s presidential library.
Miami Dade College trustees voted in September 2025 to transfer a 2.63-acre employee parking lot to the state for use as the future library site.
The waterfront property sits on Biscayne Boulevard beside Miami’s historic Freedom Tower and was assessed at more than $67 million.
Retired Florida International University professor and former Democratic congressional candidate Marvin Dunn sued the college over the decision.
Dunn argued that trustees violated Florida’s Sunshine Law by failing to provide adequate public notice before approving the transfer.
Ruiz issued a temporary injunction on October 14 preventing the property transfer while the legal challenge proceeded.
The judge said the dispute concerned whether the public had received reasonable notice and insisted her decision was not political.
“This is not an easy decision,” Ruiz said from the bench.
“This is not a case, at least for this court, rooted in politics,” she added.
Miami Dade College subsequently held another meeting on December 2 after providing public notice and allowing members of the public to comment.
Trustees again unanimously approved the property transfer, leading Ruiz to dissolve her injunction and dismiss Dunn’s lawsuit.
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County records subsequently showed the property was transferred in February 2026 to the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library Foundation for $10 through a quitclaim deed.
Ruiz nevertheless faced another controversy stemming from her conduct surrounding the case.
Court filings alleged that Ruiz praised Dunn for reportedly mortgaging his home to cover a court-ordered bond and compared him favorably with a plaintiff from an earlier case.
Dunn also said in a sworn declaration that Ruiz came down from the bench and briefly hugged him following the December hearing.
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Miami Dade College subsequently sought to have Ruiz disqualified from any further proceedings involving the dispute.
Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal granted that request on April 29.
The appellate court determined that the allegations were legally sufficient to create a well-founded fear in a reasonably prudent person that the litigant might not receive a fair hearing.
Importantly, the appeals court did not determine that Ruiz was actually biased.
The presidential library dispute and Ruiz’s disqualification became prominent issues surrounding her campaign for another term.
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Alvarez received support from several law-enforcement and first-responder organizations as well as Republican officials and donors connected with Trump.
Her campaign emphasized “character, integrity and fairness” and argued that judges should apply the law without allowing personal or political considerations to influence their decisions.
Alvarez’s campaign also declared that judges should not “legislate from the bench, play favorites, or allow politics to influence their decisions,” The Miami Herald reported.
With Alvarez receiving slightly more than 50 percent of the vote, she won the seat outright and will not need to compete in a November runoff.
This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
