NoNo

DeSantis appointee. From Ballotpedia's partisan profile: "Muñiz served as general counsel to the U.S. Department of Education under President Donald Trump (R) from 2018-2019. He also served as deputy attorney general and chief of staff under Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi (R). Muñiz was a registered Republican prior to 2020. He donated $1,109 to Republican candidates and organizations. Muñiz was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in 2019. At the time of his appointment, Florida was a Republican trifecta."

Why I'm voting no on retaining Justice Carlos Muñiz

Muñiz has consistently aligned with a specific conservative political network — especially Gov. DeSantis, who appointed him — and his record backs that up.

Redistricting: As Chief Justice, he authored the opinion upholding DeSantis's congressional map, which eliminated a North Florida district that had protected Black voters' representation, despite a 63% voter-approved amendment meant to prevent exactly that [1]. He also dismissed a challenge to DeSantis's 2025 push to redraw districts again before the midterms [2].

Sexual assault/Title IX: Before the bench, he was the lead attorney defending FSU against Erica Kinsman's rape accusation against Jameis Winston (FSU paid $950,000 to settle) [3]. He then became DOE General Counsel under Betsy DeVos, where he helped draft the rollback of Obama-era Title IX protections — adding cross-examination requirements and narrowing what counts as harassment, changes survivor advocates said would discourage reporting [4][5].

On the bench: He's been part of a reliably conservative supermajority — writing pro-tobacco-defendant precedent (Justice Labarga was the lone dissent) [6], joining the court in upholding DeSantis's suspension of an elected reform prosecutor [7], and joining the reversal of decades-old abortion precedent [8]. I found no instance of him breaking from that bloc or ruling against DeSantis's interests.

Bottom line: He calls himself a neutral textualist, but his actual record — defending institutions over survivors, rolling back Title IX protections, and consistently siding with the governor who appointed him — doesn't match that claim on the issues I care about most.

Sources

WLRN, "Florida Supreme Court upholds DeSantis-backed congressional redistricting plan" — https://www.wlrn.org/government-politics/2025-07-17/florida-supreme-court-upholds-desantis-backed-congressional-redistricting-plan

WLRN, "Florida Supreme Court blocks challenge to Gov. DeSantis' redistricting push" — https://www.wlrn.org/government-politics/2026-03-02/florida-supreme-court-blocks-challenge-to-gov-desantis-redistricting-push

NBC Miami, "Gov. DeSantis picks Trump administration official Carlos Muñiz for Florida Supreme Court" — https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/gov-desantis-picks-trump-administration-official-carlos-muniz-for-florida-supreme-court/4210/

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Senate floor statement opposing Muñiz's DOE nomination — https://www.gillibrand.senate.gov/news/press/release/senator-gillibrand-speaks-on-senate-floor-to-oppose-carlos-munizs-nomination-for-general-counsel-at-the-department-of-education/

Ballotpedia, "Carlos Muñiz" (career/DOE timeline) — https://ballotpedia.org/Carlos_Mu%C3%B1iz

Florida Bulldog, "Politics and Florida's Supreme Court: The remarkable rise of the next chief justice" — https://floridabulldog.org/2022/04/politics-and-floridas-supreme-court-the-remarkable-rise-of-the-next-chief-justice

Brennan Center for Justice, "Florida Supreme Court Allows DeSantis to Undermine Prosecutorial Independence" — https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/florida-supreme-court-allows-desantis-undermine-prosecutorial

Yahoo News/originally state press, "With arguments coming this week, a look at anti-abortion views of some Florida justices" — https://news.yahoo.com/arguments-coming-week-look-anti-100000627.html

Appointed by DeSantis in 2019 despite never serving as a judge at any level. Ruled in favor of 15-week abortion ban, which ultimately allowed the 6-week ban to take effect. In 2025, upheld the gerrymandered map that eliminated a majority Black district in North Florida. Worked in the first Trump admin under Betsy DeVos in Dept of Ed. Worked under Pam Bondi when she was FL's AG. He was also the Policy Director of the Republican Party of Florida. Sounds more like a political operative than a judge to me.

His record on reproductive freedom and voting rights does not align with the rights and ac

He helped approved the electoral map that dilutes Black voting power