Duval County voters filled one open county court seat outright in this month's primary and set up a November runoff for a second, closely watched judicial race. Criminal defense attorney Matt Lufrano won the Group 1 seat with 56.63% of the vote, while the three-way Group 9 contest is headed to a November 3 runoff between a longtime prosecutor and a veteran public defender.
Lufrano defeated LaToya Williams Shelton, who received 43.87% of the vote, according to results reported by the Jacksonville Daily Record. Williams Shelton opened her own private practice firm in 2010, focusing on family and personal injury law, and previously served on the board of directors for Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, according to The Florida Trib. Both Group 1 candidates were vying for a seat that opened after long-serving County Court Judges Scott Mitchell and Mose Floyd retired, the outlet reported.
A Former Public Defender Heads to the Bench
Lufrano, a former public defender who now practices at Lufrano Legal specializing in criminal defense, was admitted to The Florida Bar in 2009 and is a graduate of the University of Florida Levin College of Law, per the Jacksonville Daily Record. He is board-certified in criminal trial law by The Florida Bar, a distinction held by fewer than 2% of Florida attorneys, and was named Trial Attorney of the Year by the 4th Judicial Circuit Public Defender's Office in 2012, according to his campaign site, Elect Matt Lufrano.
Duval County Court judges preside over what Florida law classifies as limited-jurisdiction “people's courts,” handling misdemeanor criminal charges, civil disputes under statutory thresholds, small claims, traffic offenses, and local ordinance violations, the Florida Trib reported. That means the outcomes of these races shape the day-to-day legal experience of far more residents than higher-profile circuit court contests typically do.
Prosecutor and Public Defender Set for November Showdown
The Group 9 race pitted three candidates against each other: Octavius Holliday Jr., Melina Buncome and Marquita Green. Because no candidate cleared the 50% threshold Florida law requires for an outright win in a nonpartisan judicial primary, the top two vote-getters, Holliday and Buncome, will meet again on the November 3 general election ballot, per the Highlands County Supervisor of Elections' explanation of the statewide rule.
Holliday, an assistant state attorney, received 37.22% of the vote in the primary. He directs the Human Rights Division and Community Crime Strategies Unit at the State Attorney's Office and was named the 2025 Lawyer of the Year by the Jacksonville Daily Record. Buncome, an assistant public defender, finished second with 33.03% of the vote; she has served as a public defender since 1997, directs the 4th Judicial Circuit's Problem Solving Courts overseeing mental health, veterans and drug courts, and received the Florida Bar President's Pro Bono Service Award in 2022, according to the same account from the Florida Trib.
Green, who came in third with 29.76% of the vote, previously served nearly five years as a general magistrate in the 4th Judicial Circuit and now works as interim director of pro bono services at Jacksonville Area Legal Aid. Where her supporters land in November could prove decisive in a race that has already drawn a sharp contrast between prosecution and defense backgrounds on the bench.
Turnout and the Broader Judicial Picture
Countywide turnout for the primary was modest. The Duval County Canvassing Board certified results on August 26 showing 151,073 ballots cast among 645,955 active registered voters, a turnout rate of 23.39%, according to Duval County Elections. Given how few voters participated, shifts in general-election turnout could meaningfully affect the outcome of the nonpartisan Group 9 runoff.
Not every county judgeship was up for grabs this cycle. Three incumbents, Rhonda Peoples-Waters, Gary Flower and James Nealis, retained their seats automatically after qualifying for re-election without opposition, according to Florida Politics. That leaves the Group 9 runoff as the only remaining contested county court race on Duval County's November ballot.
