Herald endorsement: 11th Judicial Circuit Court in Miami-Dade Group 35 | Opinion

The race for judge in Miami-Dade’s 11th Judicial Circuit Court Group 35 features Renee Gordon, a longtime assistant public defender, and Cristobal David Padron, a Miami attorney who runs his own firm.

Both candidates have a commitment to improving the judicial process. Both believe strongly in public service, and both have run for judge in Miami-Dade before. Our choice is Gordon, whose deep knowledge of the legal system and wealth of experience will serve Miami-Dade residents best.

Gordon, 64, impressed us as both smart and compassionate, a hard worker who knows how to get things done in a system that can be difficult to navigate. She has worked at the Miami-Dade Public Defender’s Office for 18 years. This is her second stint in the PD’s office; she worked there earlier in her career for seven years, left to run her own firm for 12 years and then returned to the office in 2015, where she remains. She also teaches at Florida International University’s law school as an adjunct professor.

Her experience is hard to beat: She has worked in civil and criminal court, probate, guardianship and juvenile, and she has handled misdemeanors and felonies — the types of cases circuit judges preside over. She has taken 60 jury trials to verdict, she said, and tried 75 bench trial cases, where the judge hears the evidence and acts as the jury. She has worked extensively in juvenile justice; she also has been a supervising attorney at the Public Defenders Office, so she has trained other lawyers.

She’s detail oriented, important in a judge, but she also sees the big picture: She identified the erosion of public confidence in the judiciary as one of the top challenges facing the legal system today. “I want people to believe in our system... I want people to understand that in their most difficult times, they’re not invisible,” she said.

Gordon has run for judge twice before, in 2016 and 2018. The Herald Editorial Board endorsed her in 2018, though not in 2016.

If she’s elected, she said she would bring to the bench what she learned as a child while working on her grandparents’ farm in rural Georgia. “It’s the lesson of being kind to people and respecting them. It is the lesson of humility when you work on a farm... it is the lesson of patience with people because, on a farm, things don’t grow overnight,” she said.

Padron, 42, has been in private practice for 15 years. He runs his own firm, where he focuses mainly on family law, though he’s also dealt with a variety of other types of cases including foreclosures, evictions, probate, domestic violence and appellate work. When he ran for circuit judge in 2024, the Editorial Board did not endorse him.

He is passionate about the law — “I live at the court,” he said — and said he would be a “fair but firm” judge if elected. He said he has handled at least 400 bench trials and two jury trials.

Gordon believes being a judge is all about public service. “One of the things that judges must have is a heart for service. We’re public servants, and we are there to serve the people,” she said.

The Herald endorses RENEE GORDON for 11th Judicial Circuit Court Judge Group 35.

This story was originally published July 13, 2026 at 11:20 AM.