The Christian Family Coalition on Saturday revoked its “highly qualified” rating for Palm Beach County judge Lourdes Casanova after it was revealed she was endorsed by an LGBTQ+ civil rights organization.
The Christian Family Coalition criticized Casanova in a statement for accepting “an endorsement” from the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, which it labeled “a homosexual hate group that vilifies Christians and anyone who disagrees with them.”
No evidence was provided to support claims that the Human Rights Council is a hate group critical of Christians.
The Human Rights Council is an advocate for LGBTQ+ civil rights and has endorsed candidates since its founding in 1988 by former judge Rand Hoch. Its endorsements often include Democrats and Republicans, and the organization has worked across the political spectrum in Palm Beach County over the years.
“It’s clear they know absolutely nothing about our organization,” Hoch said in a telephone interview Saturday. He has never criticized people based on religion.
“They come out of nowhere and they attack a candidate who they thought was the most qualified before they heard about our endorsement. And that makes no sense. I think it’s unchristian.”
The Christian Family Coalition has a long history of opposing abortion rights and LGBTQ+ rights. It is based in Miami and has recently sought to expand its presence in Palm Beach County.
Voting for county court judge is underway via mail-in and early voting. It ends on Election Day, August 20. If none of the three candidates — Casanova, Douglas Leifert or Jean Marie Middleton — receives more than 50 percent of the vote, the two candidates with the most votes will go to a runoff in November.
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If Casanova wins, she will become Palm Beach County’s first elected female judge. She has also been endorsed by the Police Benevolent Association Fraternal Order of Police and the Professional Firefighters/Paramedics of Palm Beach County union.
An article published Friday in the South Florida Sun Sentinel about the challenges people face in making informed decisions about judicial candidates noted that Casanova had the seal of approval of both the Christian Family Coalition and the Human Rights Council. Hoch said he didn’t realize they had both given the green light to the same candidate until he read the article.
Anthony Verdugo, the organization’s founder and executive director, said in a statement Saturday that “candidates seeking the support of LGBTQ activist organizations working to undermine family values, parental rights and child safety do not receive the highly qualified review provided by CFC Florida.”
Hoch said the Human Rights Council wants to pass laws that guarantee equality for LGBTQ+ people. “In doing so, we also ensure equality for women, other minorities and people who are not married. And that is our mission. We do everything we can to ensure that there is equality before the law.”
He said the Human Rights Council Voters Alliance conducts in-person interviews with candidates. In the case of the three candidates for county court judge, he said the group spoke to each for 20 minutes.
The Human Rights Council Voters Alliance invites anyone to give a presentation and asks about impartiality, discrimination, their professional and personal experiences with people in the LGBTQ+ community. “Everyone did well, but she was the strongest.”
“We’re looking for people who understand equality, who understand that discrimination is wrong, and when it comes to judicial candidates. … We’re looking for people who have demonstrated that they can be impartial. And that’s our criteria. And we had three really good candidates,” Hoch said.
“It’s a disgrace that they (the Christian Family Coalition) thought she was qualified based on the way they evaluate candidates, and now they’re retracting that because she went before another group that determined she was qualified, impartial, and understands discrimination,” Hoch said.
Years ago, Hoch briefly served as chairman of the Palm Beach County Democratic Party. In 1992, he was appointed by then-Governor Lawton Chiles to serve as a compensation claims judge, making him the first openly LGBTQ+ judge in Florida.
This article contains information from the Sun Sentinel archives.
Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com and can be found @browardpolitics on Bluesky, Threads, Facebook, and Mastodon.
