A Leon County judge set July 21 and 22 for a fast-tracked hearing in Jay Collins’ lawsuit seeking to remove James Fishback from the Republican primary ballot. James Fishback is running as a Republican primary candidate for governor, and Collins is arguing he does not meet Florida’s seven-year residency requirement.
Judge David Frank told the parties there is “really almost no chance that we can continue that” and added, “You will have to be ready to go, guys.” The hearing now sits just weeks before Florida’s August primary, with ballot printing already underway.
David Frank's July 21 schedule
Frank’s ruling gives the case an accelerated calendar that could decide whether Fishback stays on the ballot before voters receive printed ballots. That timing matters because a later ruling would force the court to deal with ballots that may already be in circulation.
The judge also warned that it may already be too late to stop ballots from being printed. If that happens, one possible remedy he described was to tell elections officials not to count votes cast for Fishback.
Jay Collins and Fishback
Collins filed the challenge against Fishback and said, “I’m the only person in this race with a fighting chance against Byron Donalds, and the math is going to show that very clearly,” referring to the Republican race for governor. The lawsuit is built around the residency requirement, which is the legal rule Collins says Fishback fails to meet.
The case now turns on whether the court can act before ballots are finalized. If the hearing produces a ruling after printing advances, the fight shifts from ballot access to how election officials handle votes already marked for Fishback.
