Race Profile: 12th Circuit District Court Judicial Race

BRADENTON – On the upcoming primary ballot, all Manatee County voters will have the ability to vote in the the 12th Circuit District Court judicial race between Susan Maulucci and Art Jackman. The winner will take the seat being vacated by retiring judge Marc Gilner. Both candidates bring a wealth of legal experience to the table, though their backgrounds are quite different.

Susan Maulucci

Susan Maulucci served 10 years as a general magistrate in the family division in Manatee County before stepping down to run for judge. She started as a prosecutor for the state attorney's office in 1984, after earning both her bachelor and law degrees from the University of Florida.

While working in a division that handled child services cases, she ended up adopting a little girl who had been homeless and faced spending her life in foster care.

Maulucci spent most of the '90s in private practice, where she did criminal defense work. In 2000, she became a certified mediator, where she worked until being appointed as a magistrate in 2004, a position very similar to the one she is running for.

Art Jackman

Art Jackman did his undergrad at Notre Dame, where he played as a walk-on for the football team and was a member of the Air Force ROTC. Afterward, he would earn a law degree from Albany Law School.

Jackman then went on the serve as a JAG officer in the Air Force, initially serving 6 years on active duty. He still serves as a colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve.

Jackman also went to New York University, where he received a master's degree in taxation. After leaving New York for Sarasota, Jackman took a job with the public defender's office, before being called back to active duty after the 9/11 attacks. He worked at MacDill Air Force base in Tampa.

After returning to Sarasota to prosecute sex crimes, he was called back to active duty for another year before being assigned to the Pentagon full-time in 2006. Jackman returned to Sarasota yet again in 2009 and is currently is a felony division chief at the State Attorney's Office, where he oversees all felony prosecutions for the Sarasota County office.