Who is running for Second District Court of Appeal, Retention: Daniel H. Sleet in 2026?

Judge, Florida Second District Court of Appeal

Daniel H. Sleet was appointed to the Second District Court of Appeal by Governor Rick Scott in December 2012 after serving on the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit bench in Hillsborough County, to which Governor Jeb Bush appointed him in 2005³. He was an assistant state attorney in Hillsborough County from 1987 to 1991 and then a civil trial lawyer and partner at Barr, Murman and Tonelli in Tampa³. This is a nonpartisan merit retention vote: voters decide yes or no on whether he keeps his seat for another six-year term¹⁴.

• Judge, Second District Court of Appeal, since December 2012; chair of the court's Legislative Committee; the court's chief judge until his successor took office July 1, 2025³⁶
• Circuit Judge, Thirteenth Judicial Circuit (Hillsborough County), 2005 to 2012; re-elected without opposition in 2008³
• Associate and later partner, Barr, Murman and Tonelli, Tampa, personal injury defense, 1991 to 2005³
• Assistant State Attorney, Hillsborough County, 1987 to 1991³
• Adjunct professor of trial advocacy, University of Tampa, since 2016³
• B.A. in History, Furman University, 1984; J.D., Cumberland School of Law, 1987³
• Appointed to the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit by Governor Jeb Bush in 2005, then to the Second District Court of Appeal by Governor Rick Scott in December 2012³. Retained by voters in November 2020 with 70.96 percent voting yes⁵. Florida law places appeals court judges on the ballot every six years for a yes or no retention vote⁴. He is on the November 3, 2026 ballot for merit retention¹².