Most elections for Duval County judicial seats were settled before voters even began voting this year. Of the eight seats for Duval County judges in the 4th Judicial Circuit Court, seven judges were retained without opposition. 

But four candidates are competing for one open seat, and they have raised tens of thousands of dollars, much of which one candidate loaned to himself.

Candidates in the Group 9 race are Andrew Bonderud, an attorney with The Bonderud Law Firm; Marcus Isom, an assistant state attorney in Florida’s 4th Judicial Circuit; Shayla E. Lee, an attorney with the 4th Circuit Public Defender’s Office; and Matthew Lufrano, a criminal defense attorney who founded Lufrano Legal P.A.

Candidates, from left: Andrew Bonderud, Marcus Isom, Shayla E. Lee and Matthew Lufrano.

If one candidate gets more than 50% of the vote Tuesday, that person will win the seat. Otherwise, the top two vote-getters will go to a runoff in the general election Nov. 5.

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Here is a rundown of the candidates’ funding and spending.

Financial contributions

If a voter merely looks at the total contributions in the race, it may not give the clearest picture. Altogether, the race has accumulated more than $514,000. But more than $364,000 of that is wrapped up in self-contributions. And, most of that total is coming from a single $300,000 loan Lufrano contributed to his own campaign.

If one removes the loans and self-funding, the financial race gets a bit tighter. Strictly in donations, the four candidates have collected nearly $150,000. But the split is not even.

Isom appears to be coming out on top with $68,772 raised as of the most recent campaign funding reports from the Duval supervisor of elections. That total disregards any loans or funding the candidates have given to themselves to support their individual campaigns.

Coming in second — financially speaking — is Lufrano, who has raised $53,575.

Trailing those two are Lee, with just over $16,000 raised, and Bunderud, with a bit over $10,800.

Expenditures

When it comes to spending, Isom and Lufrano have collectively spent more than $241,000 on their races so far. Lufrano has outspent Isom, dipping into his war chest for more than $125,000 versus Isom’s nearly $116,000 spent. 

The largest portion of spending has gone to consulting and marketing firms Reliant Florida Consulting and Daigle Creative.