A retiring Broward judge says he was asked to leave earlier than planned under pressure from the county's chief judge so he could fill the vacancy with another judge in danger of losing his reelection bid.

Circuit Judge Robert Lance Andrews said he received a telephone call in early September from Chief Judge Victor Tobin and Court Administrator Carol Lee Ortman in which Tobin asked him to resign so Gov. Charlie Crist could appoint embattled Circuit Judge Pedro Dijols as his successor.

Dijols had just lost his reelection bid in the August primary and has since been fighting in court to get his name back on the November runoff ballot.

At the time, Andrews had already announced that he planned to retire but was not going to step down until Oct. 31. He said he rejected the request because he feared losing some of his benefits or compensation.

''They just told me to go out the door. There was no guarantee that I would have a salary,'' said Andrews, who now lives in Texas. ``I called back later and said I wasn't going to do it. I didn't owe the governor anything and I wouldn't know Pedro from Adam's house cat.''

Tobin admits he called Andrews -- but only to discuss why he had not filed retirement papers with the governor's office or notified the chief judge of his pending retirement. Dijols was never discussed, he said.

''That is insulting,'' Tobin said. ``It never happened.''

Dijols is currently handling Andrews' motion calender while the retiring judge is on medical leave. He did not return repeated phone calls about the issue.

Andrews, 67, insists Tobin asked him to consider leaving more than a month earlier than he intended.

''They made it sound like that if I resigned the 15th of September, [Dijols] would be automatically appointed,'' said Andrews, who has been a well-respected judge for 30 years. ``Vic indicated he wanted Pedro back as a matter of pride and workload. It was a strange conversation.''

Tobin denied the allegations and called Andrews, who recently suffered a stroke, ``not well.''

''Absolutely, unequivocally no,'' said Tobin when asked if he was trying to get Dijols appointed to the bench. ``You're relying on the thoughts of a man who is not well.''

ETHICS CONCERNS

Andrews' allegations about Tobin's attempts to appoint Dijols behind closed doors raises ethics questions about a top judge's involvement in a political matter, said Kenneth Goodman, co-director of the University of Miami ethics program.

''We look to the judiciary as an exemplar of good practices to instill confidence to the public,'' Goodman said. ``Anything that makes it seems like there is a deal cut in the backroom would erode the public's confidence in the judiciary.''

For Dijols, who was appointed to the bench by Gov. Jeb Bush in 2005, this year's reelection campaign has been brutal.

In August, Dijols came in third in a three-way primary, narrowly losing to second-place finisher Mardi Anne Levey by 70 votes. The first-place winner was Bernard Isaac ''Bernie'' Bober, a public defender.

Within days, Dijols filed a lawsuit in an attempt to get his name back on the ballot for November, alleging that Levey should have been removed from the ballot because she ran under a name that she doesn't use in her law practice. Levey, who is married to Broward Judge Dale Cohen, said she used her maiden name so she would not be viewed as riding her husband's coattails.

Last week, a judge ruled that Levey could remain a candidate, but that her name won't appear on the ballot in the judicial race Nov. 4 against Bober.

Circuit judges make about $145,000 a year and serve six-year terms.

The election saga between Dijols and Levey will likely be decided by the Florida Supreme Court, which received a petition from Dijols last week.

VACANT SPOT

If he loses, there is still a chance Dijols could be appointed to a vacant spot on the bench, but that decision would be in the hands of Crist.

The Judicial Nominating Commission, a group of attorneys appointed to evaluate judicial candidates, provides Crist with three to six names to fill vacancies.

On Thursday, the Broward JNC advertised for applications for the position left vacant by Andrews.

Although an independent body, the JNC does give ''great weight'' to the opinion of a judge about a potential candidate, said Richard Antonio Perez, vice chairman of the JNC that covers Miami-Dade County.

But that doesn't guarantee a candidate will be recommended for appointment, he said. Neither does being a former judge.

''There is nothing by rule that says a former judge will be first in line for a vacant position,'' Perez said. ``We take into account a lot of factors. But a judge's opinion may be the most valuable input point in the process.''

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