Candidate Bonita Jones-Peabody, Circuit Judge Group 69

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

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: Rita Maria Baez
Ballot number: 89
Campaign website: electbonita.com

Background

According to her campaign website, Jones-Peabody was born and raised in Miami-Dade County and built her legal career there. The Florida Bar’s member directory lists her as a 1990 graduate of the University of Miami School of Law, admitted to the Bar on December 2, 1990. It lists her as managing partner of Summit Law Group, with a North Miami mailing address, and shows her as a member of the Bar’s Elder Law and Solo & Small Firm sections. The directory shows her in good standing with no public discipline in its 10-year history.

Her campaign says she has spent more than 35 years as a trial attorney, including more than 200 criminal jury trials and more than 75 civil cases.

The campaign also highlights community work. It says she serves as parliamentarian of the Brownsville Civic Neighborhood Association, using her legal training to support the group’s meetings and governance, and that she founded Education Means More Access (E.M.M.A.), an effort to help teen mothers continue their education and find support.

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. Jones-Peabody’s campaign website carries this statement from her:

“Every person who enters the courtroom deserves to be treated with dignity, fairness, and respect. That is the calling I intend to answer.”

Bonita Jones-Peabody, campaign website

The site’s opening summarizes her candidacy this way:

“35+ years in the courtroom. A commitment to dignity, fairness, and respect for every person.”

Jones-Peabody campaign website, electbonita.com

Qualifications and Endorsements

Jones-Peabody’s campaign website lists endorsements from the South Florida AFL-CIO and the South Florida Council of Firefighters. It also lists individual supporters by name: Dr. Dorothy Bendross-Mindingall, H.T. Smith, Carlos Martinez, Linda Kelly Kearson, Marva Wiley, Dwayne A. Robinson, Kendrick Meek, Jr. and Reggie Leon.

Her campaign uses the tagline “Justice For Every Neighborhood.” Her public materials emphasize trial experience, particularly in criminal cases, along with her community service, 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:

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

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

On CABA’s question about whether the candidate has the appropriate character to sit as a judge, 23.91% said yes for Jones-Peabody and 32.61% said no; for Baez, 32.56% said yes and 13.95% 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, Rita Maria 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.

Baez, her opponent, is a Coral Gables attorney who, according to her campaign, has 30 years in private practice handling civil litigation, bankruptcy and family law. A separate profile of Baez 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.