By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter

                Eighth Judicial Circuit judge candidate Nathan Skop is literally a rocket scientist and an attorney.

            He’s done both.

            Skop is one of the four attorneys running for circuit judge that spoke at a Republican candidates’ forum in Cedar Key on July 22.

            He earned a degree from the University of Florida in aerospace engineering and built nuclear submarines, airplanes, and batteries for the Space Station before deciding in his mid-30s to become an attorney.

            A couple of days after graduating from the UF law school, Skop was appointed by the governor of Florida to serve as a commissioner on the Florida Public Service Commission, one of the most powerful regulatory boards in Florida.

            As a PSC commissioner, he voted in favor of having Duke Energy build a nuclear power plant in southwest Levy County, a project that could have added billions of dollars in value to the county tax roll and thousands of jobs to the economy. He said the project was never built for financial reasons.

            He said the highest praise he has received as a candidate for circuit judge was when an attorney with more than 50 years of experience spoke at the Chiefland Rotary Club about why he thought Skop was the best-qualified attorney in the field of four candidates.

            “He said I want everyone in this room to listen. I’ve been an attorney for a long time. We need judges like Mr. Skop because he’s well-rounded. He’s got technical experience for issues that come before the court, trade secrets, and other issues. He’s got experience with financial issues that come before the court, probate, family law,” Skop recalled. “He also said Mr. Skop has had a distinguished legal career with the Florida Public Service Commission. We have too many judges who are prosecutors and public defenders that don’t understand all the issues that come before a circuit court judge.”

            When Skop was asked by questioner Stoney Smith if he believes drugs and gangs are a big problem in this area, including Gainesville and Levy County, Skop said “absolutely.”

            He said he has heard prosecutors claim that they prosecuted this case and they prosecuted that case, but he said their claims aren’t always rooted in fact. He said in the most recent shooting in Gainesville, a convicted felon was in possession of a firearm.

            “The same convicted felon was charged as a convicted felon in possession of firearms four months prior and had those charges dropped instead of going to prison,” Skop said. “That’s not law enforcement, that’s not the judges, that’s the State Attorney. So, time and time again you see violent felons, repeat offenders having charges dropped.”

            Smith asked Skop what makes him the best-qualified candidate for circuit judge.

            Skop said he is well-rounded and experienced. He has been licensed with the Florida Bar for 15 years. He also had college experience. In his last year of law school, he said he had the honor and privilege of completing a judicial externship in the criminal division of circuit court with Circuit Judge Robert P. Cates.

            “I learned a lot from Judge Cates,” he said. “After graduating from law school and passing the Bar exam, a couple of days later the governor of Florida appointed me to the Florida Public Service Commission. As commissioner, I conducted thousands of hours of evidentiary hearings. I decided motions. I made evidentiary rulings. I wrote concurring and dissenting opinions and adjudicated cases subject to direct appeal to the Supreme Court.

            Skop got off to a rocky start early in his interview with Smith when he was asked a question that Skop said was absolutely untrue.

            “Mr. Skop, you said at other meetings you are the only Republican candidate running for that office. How does that differentiate you from the other candidates?” Smith said.

            “I cannot say that. I have not said that” Skop responded. “It is not a partisan election and so I can speak to that. I will say my campaign signs are being defaced and vandalized in Gainesville.”

            Judicial candidates can’t claim they are Republican or Democrat. They run as a non-party candidate. The term used to describe a non-party candidate is nonpartisan.

            Smith asked Skop to talk about his experience in the Public Service Commission and if that experience makes him feel he is better qualified than the other candidates to be a circuit judge.

            “I think it’s really good. We did everything an administrative law judge would do except we also had the power to take final agency action. When you decide cases right out of law school subject to direct appeal to the Florida Supreme Court, that’s a tremendous honor,” Skop said.

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Enterprise Reporting by Terry Witt July 22, 2022; Posted July 30, 2022