Candidate Rita Maria Baez, Circuit Judge Group 69

Rita Maria Baez, a Coral Gables attorney in private practice, is on the November 3, 2026 general election ballot for Circuit Judge, 11th Judicial Circuit, Group 69. She faces attorney Bonita Jones-Peabody 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. Baez appears on the county’s master ballot as candidate number 88 and Jones-Peabody as number 89.

At a Glance

Office: Circuit Judge, 11th Judicial Circuit, Group 69
Area covered: All of Miami-Dade County (countywide, nonpartisan)
Incumbent? No. No sitting judge is on the ballot for this group.
Opponent on ballot: Bonita Jones-Peabody
Ballot number: 88
Campaign website: ritaforjudge.com

Background

According to her campaign website, Baez is a Miami native who was born and raised in the county. Her parents emigrated from Cuba, and the campaign says her father was a physician who served on the medical team for the April 17, 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion. She is bilingual in English and Spanish.

Baez earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration, concentrating in international finance and marketing, from the University of Miami, and a law degree from St. Thomas University School of Law, according to her campaign. The Florida Bar’s member directory lists her St. Thomas law degree as 1995 and shows she was admitted to the Bar on April 24, 1996. It lists her practice as the Law Office of Rita M Baez in Coral Gables and shows her in good standing with no public discipline in its 10-year history.

Her campaign describes 30 years in private practice, with experience in civil litigation, bankruptcy and family law. It says she has litigated thousands of cases and served as counsel in numerous jury trials.

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. Baez’s campaign website summarizes her reasons for running this way:

“Committed to the law and public service; seeks to give back to the community through judicial service”

Baez campaign website, ritaforjudge.com

The site’s headline frames her candidacy around three themes:

“Strong Legal Experience, Lifelong Commitment to Miami-Dade County, and Passion for Justice”

Baez campaign website, ritaforjudge.com

Qualifications and Endorsements

Baez’s campaign website displays endorsements from the Hispanic Police Officers Association, the South Florida Police Benevolent Association, Hialeah Mayor Bryan Calvo and Miami-Dade County Tax Collector Dariel Fernandez.

Her public materials emphasize the length of her private practice, the volume of cases she has handled, her range of practice areas and her lifelong ties to Miami-Dade, 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 69:

Baez: 15.93% exceptionally qualified, 47.79% qualified, 36.28% unqualified (392 respondents, or 62.12%, had no opinion)
Jones-Peabody: 22.08% exceptionally qualified, 40.26% qualified, 37.66% unqualified (362 respondents, or 57.37%, 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:

Baez: 8.20% exceptionally qualified, 26.23% qualified, 13.11% unqualified, 52.46% no opinion
Jones-Peabody: 7.94% exceptionally qualified, 12.70% qualified, 26.98% unqualified, 52.38% no opinion

On CABA’s question about whether the candidate has the appropriate character to sit as a judge, 32.56% said yes for Baez and 13.95% said no; for Jones-Peabody, 23.91% said yes and 32.61% 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 69 drew three candidates in the August 18 primary. According to the Florida Division of Elections results site, Baez led with 82,715 votes (37.13%), followed by Jones-Peabody with 77,894 (34.97%) and attorney Yaneth Del Carmen Baez with 62,134 (27.89%). Because no one passed 50%, the top two advanced to November. The South Dade News Leader reported the Group 69 race among two circuit court contests headed to a runoff.

Jones-Peabody, her opponent, is the managing partner of a North Miami law firm who, according to her campaign, has more than 35 years as a trial attorney, including more than 200 criminal jury trials. A separate profile of Jones-Peabody 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.