Miami-Dade voters delivered a stunning rebuke Tuesday night, unseating Circuit Judge Mavel Ruiz after she temporarily blocked the transfer of prime downtown Miami property designated for President Donald Trump’s future presidential library.
Conservative attorney Destiny Alvarez, just 30 years old, defeated the longtime incumbent in the nonpartisan race for the 11th Judicial Circuit’s Group 67 seat.
With all 767 precincts reporting, Alvarez received 113,215 votes, or 50.46%, while Ruiz finished with 111,142 votes, or 49.54%.
Alvarez defeated Ruiz by 2,073 votes and crossed the 50% threshold needed to avoid a November runoff, according to Florida’s official election-night reporting system.
In other words, Ruiz is finished.
The contest became one of Florida’s most politically explosive judicial races after Ruiz inserted herself into the fight over President Trump’s planned presidential library.
In October 2025, Ruiz issued a temporary injunction blocking Miami Dade College from transferring a 2.63-acre parcel beside the historic Freedom Tower for the library project.
The injunction came after left-wing activist Marvin Dunn sued the college, alleging its Board of Trustees failed to provide sufficient public notice before approving the transfer under Florida’s Sunshine Law.
The valuable Biscayne Boulevard property was appraised at more than $67 million and sits near Biscayne Bay and the arena used by the Miami Heat.
Ruiz later dismissed Dunn’s complaint after the college held another publicly noticed meeting and voted unanimously for the transfer a second time. The judge claimed her decisions were based strictly on Florida’s open-government law and were not political. WLRN reported that the complaint was dismissed without prejudice in December.
But the damage was done.
The high-profile ruling turned Ruiz’s otherwise sleepy reelection campaign into a referendum on activist judges, President Trump, and the rapidly changing political landscape in Miami-Dade County.
Although judicial elections in Florida are officially nonpartisan, the political contrast between the candidates could hardly have been clearer.
Alvarez is a registered Republican and a member of the Federalist Society. Her campaign emphasized that judges should follow the Constitution, apply the law faithfully, and refuse to “legislate from the bench.”
She also received backing from law enforcement and first-responder organizations, including the Miami-Dade Fraternal Order of Police, the Police Benevolent Association, the Hialeah Police Officers Association, and the South Florida Council of Firefighters, according to her campaign website.
Ruiz, meanwhile, was recommended by left-wing organizations, including the Miami Beach Democratic Club and the Miami Democratic Socialists of America.
Alvarez previously served as a Florida Gubernatorial Fellow and is the managing partner of the Miami office of Goede, DeBoest & Cross. She earned her law degree and undergraduate economics degree from the University of Florida.
As The Gateway Pundit previously reported, Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet unanimously approved the parcel for the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library Foundation in September 2025.
Eric Trump said the future library would become an “icon” on Miami’s skyline and honor the 45th and 47th president’s historic political legacy.
The site’s location beside the Freedom Tower carries powerful symbolism. The landmark once served as a processing center for Cuban refugees fleeing the horrors of communism.
President Trump carried Miami-Dade County by approximately 13 points in 2024, becoming the first Republican presidential candidate to win the county since 1988.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier celebrated the result, posting simply: “Great win for the rule of law!”
Great win for the rule of law! https://t.co/NGfabr7SEk
— James Uthmeier (@JamesUthmeierFL) August 19, 2026
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