Who is running for Second District Court of Appeal, Retention: Morris Silberman in 2026?

Judge, Florida Second District Court of Appeal

Morris Silberman has served on the Second District Court of Appeal since January 2001 and was its chief judge from July 2011 to June 2013³. Before the bench he practiced civil litigation and appeals in Sarasota and Clearwater, formed his own Clearwater firm in 1988, and clerked for Second District Judge Herboth S. Ryder³. 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 January 2001; chief judge July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2013³
• Private practice in Sarasota and Clearwater in general civil litigation and appeals; formed his own Clearwater firm in 1988³
• Law clerk to Judge Herboth S. Ryder, Second District Court of Appeal³
• Member and past chairman of the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission, 2003 to 2012; Florida Bar Board of Governors, 1996 to 2000; president of the Clearwater Bar Association, 1993 to 1994³
• President of the Council of Chief Judges of the State Courts of Appeal, 2021 to 2022; board of the National Center for State Courts, 2023 to 2026³
• B.A., Tulane University; J.D., University of Florida College of Law, 1982³
• Appointed to the Second District Court of Appeal for a term beginning January 2001³. Retained by voters in November 2020 with 71.06 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.