Candidate Monica Segura, Circuit Judge Group 5 - Community Leadership Alliance

Monica Segura, a Miami civil attorney, is on the November 3, 2026 general election ballot for Circuit Judge, 11th Judicial Circuit, Group 5. She faces assistant public defender Arthur LeMar “Marty” McNeil in a runoff after neither candidate won a majority in the August 18 primary. The seat is nonpartisan and countywide, so every Miami-Dade voter, including voters in South Dade, can cast a ballot in this race. Segura appears on the county’s master ballot as candidate number 87 and McNeil as number 86.

At a Glance

Office: Circuit Judge, 11th Judicial Circuit, Group 5
Area covered: All of Miami-Dade County (countywide, nonpartisan)
Incumbent? No. No sitting judge is on the ballot for this group.
Opponent on ballot: Arthur LeMar “Marty” McNeil
Ballot number: 87
Campaign website: votemonicasegura.com

Background

According to her campaign website, Segura was born and raised in Miami to Cuban parents and is the daughter of a former police lieutenant. She attended Our Lady of Lourdes Academy and then the University of Miami, where the campaign says she completed a bachelor’s degree in communication, with studies in broadcast journalism and criminology, magna cum laude in 2002 after three years of undergraduate work. She graduated from the University of Miami School of Law in 2005.

The Florida Bar’s member directory shows she was admitted to the Bar on April 19, 2006, and lists her as corporate counsel at Universal Property & Casualty Insurance. The directory shows her in good standing with no public discipline in its 10-year history.

Her campaign describes a career in civil practice at several law firms followed by in-house work for an insurance carrier. It also says she served about four years as a special master and magistrate for the Town of Miami Lakes and was slated to teach appellate advocacy as an adjunct professor at St. Thomas University College of Law. She coaches students for moot court competitions, according to the campaign, and is married with a young son.

The campaign lists a range of bar and civic roles: chair of the Eleventh Circuit’s Professionalism Panel; committee chair and board member of the Cuban American Bar Association (CABA); executive board member, treasurer and committee chair of the Miami-Dade chapter of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers; a seat on The Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division Board of Governors; co-chair of the young lawyers’ section of the National Center for State Courts; and chair of the City of Coral Gables Park Advisory Board. Current memberships it lists include CABA, FAWL, The Federalist Society and the University of Miami Moot Court Alumni Advisory Board. Recognitions cited on the site include the Daily Business Review’s inaugural “Rising Star 40 Under 40” class in 2013 and Florida Super Lawyers “Rising Star” selections between 2009 and 2016.

In July 2026 Segura was a guest on the “In the Know” interview program hosted by attorney Willard Shepard, according to Community Newspapers, which described the conversation as covering judicial ethics, impartiality and public trust.

In Their Own Words

Because judicial candidates are limited in what they may say about issues, campaign statements in these races tend to focus on experience and approach rather than policy. Segura’s campaign website describes her practice this way:

“She has dedicated herself to civil practice working at several distinguished law firms, and has continued her career working in-house for an insurance carrier.”

Segura campaign biography, votemonicasegura.com

Her campaign site also publishes statements from endorsing organizations, including this one attributed to the Fraternal Order of Police:

“Monica Segura is a person of great honor, integrity, and character. She understands firsthand the responsibilities and sacrifices that come with being a Law Enforcement Officer.”

Fraternal Order of Police endorsement, as published on Segura’s campaign website

Qualifications and Endorsements

Segura’s campaign website lists endorsements from the Fraternal Order of Police, the South Florida Council of Firefighters and the South Florida Police Benevolent Association.

Her public materials emphasize her civil litigation and in-house experience, her time as a Miami Lakes special magistrate, teaching and mentoring, and bar leadership roles, rather than positions on legal questions.

Bar Polls

Local bar associations survey their members before judicial elections. These polls reflect the views of the lawyers who chose to respond and are not scientific samples of voters.

The Miami-Dade Bar’s 2026 judicial poll, open from June 15 to July 3, 2026, drew 631 respondents out of 18,232 members surveyed. Among respondents who gave a rating in Group 5:

Segura: 18.88% exceptionally qualified, 49.65% qualified, 31.47% unqualified (398 respondents, or 63.07%, had no opinion)
McNeil: 32.00% exceptionally qualified, 46.40% qualified, 21.60% unqualified (423 respondents, or 67.04%, had no opinion)

The Cuban American Bar Association’s 2026 judicial poll, which reports percentages including “no opinion” responses and does not state its dates or respondent count, asked whether each candidate is qualified to be a judge. (Segura lists CABA among her memberships.)

Segura: 20.00% exceptionally qualified, 15.00% qualified, 10.00% unqualified, 55.00% no opinion
McNeil: 16.95% exceptionally qualified, 16.95% qualified, 3.39% unqualified, 62.71% no opinion

On CABA’s question about whether the candidate has the appropriate character to sit as a judge, 34.88% said yes for Segura and 9.30% said no; for McNeil, 39.53% said yes and 6.98% said no.

What This Office Does

Circuit courts are Florida’s trial courts of general jurisdiction. They handle felony prosecutions, family law, probate, juvenile cases, larger civil lawsuits and appeals from county court. According to the Eleventh Judicial Circuit, the Miami-Dade circuit is the largest in Florida, with 80 circuit judges and 43 county judges serving more than two million residents across roughly 2,000 square miles. The court’s divisions include circuit civil, criminal, family, probate and juvenile, and its courthouse locations include the South Dade Justice Center.

Circuit judges serve six-year terms and must have been admitted to practice law in Florida for the preceding five years, according to Ballotpedia.

Judicial candidates also campaign under the Florida Code of Judicial Conduct. Canon 7 bars them from making pledges or promises about how they would rule and from statements that commit, or appear to commit, them on cases or issues likely to come before the court, as The Florida Bar News has explained. For that reason, this profile focuses on experience, qualifications and reported endorsements rather than issue positions.

The Race

Group 5 drew three candidates in the August 18 primary. According to the Florida Division of Elections results site, McNeil led with 95,063 votes (42.47%), followed by Segura with 80,402 (35.92%) and attorney Alex Annunziato with 48,364 (21.61%). Because no one passed 50%, the top two advanced to November. The South Dade News Leader reported the Group 5 race among two circuit court contests headed to a runoff.

McNeil, her opponent, is an assistant public defender who, according to his campaign, ran a private criminal and civil practice from 2008 to 2016, is a certified circuit civil mediator and has tried more than 65 cases. A separate profile of McNeil is available in this voter guide.

How to Vote

Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, 2026. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and voters must go to their assigned precinct.

Early voting: October 19 through November 1, 2026, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily at any Miami-Dade early voting site, according to the county’s early voting schedule.
Vote by mail: Requests must be received by 5 p.m. on the 12th day before the election, which is Thursday, October 22, 2026. Completed ballots must reach the Supervisor of Elections by 7 p.m. on Election Day (Miami-Dade Elections).
More information: Miami-Dade Elections Department

Community Leadership Alliance is nonpartisan and does not endorse candidates. This profile is based on public records, candidate statements and news coverage, including the South Dade News Leader. Candidates who wish to submit corrections may contact us through our Contact page.