Jared Smith made national headlines after denying a Tampa teenager's request to obtain an abortion. In his ruling, Smith cited the minor's school grades as an example of why she wasn't capable of making that decision.
He also noted misspellings and grammatical errors in the girl’s petition.
An Appeals panel later overruled Smith's verdict to deny the teen a judicial bypass, a legal process that allows minors to get abortions without parental consent.
Smith lost his county judicial seat in the 2022 election but was later appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis to Florida's 6th District Court of Appeal in Lakeland.
Smith is one of 15 candidates vying to replace former Florida Supreme Court Justice Ricky Polston, who stepped down in March.
Filling the vacancy will mean DeSantis will have picked five of the court’s seven members, a potentially crucial factor for the future of the state's abortion laws.
Other contenders include Judge John K. Stargel of Florida’s Second District Court of Appeal.
Stargel, of Lakeland, is a former state legislator and the husband of former Florida Republican State Senator Kelli Stargel, who in 2022, filed the Senate bill to ban abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
Judge Stargel was the only dissenting vote in the decision that overturned Smith’s ruling blocking the teenager’s abortion.
