Judge rules Fishback is eligible in Florida Governor race

South Florida native James Fishback will remain on statewide ballots in the governor’s race after a Leon County judge Monday ruled he is eligible to run, according to a post announcing the ruling (which hasn’t been publicly released as of this publication).

Fishback, who didn’t respond to New Times’ request for comment, celebrated the ruling in a post on X, writing, “It’s official. I will remain on your ballot. The disgraceful lawfare brought by Jay Collins and fueled by Byron Donalds has failed. This is a victory for our campaign, for the Constitution, and for every Floridian who believes elections should be decided by voters.”

The full statement can be found below.

The ruling comes about a week after Fishback appeared in court defending his qualifications to run in the upcoming gubernatorial race. Florida Lt. Gov. (and fellow gubernatorial candidate) Jay Collins filed the lawsuit asking a judge to remove opponent Fishback’s name from the ballot, arguing he doesn’t meet the residency qualifications to run for the state’s top office. Collins’ argument was based on documents from the Washington, D.C., Office of Tax and Revenue (OTR) that called into question whether Fishback lived in Florida the requisite seven consecutive years preceding the 2026 gubernatorial election.

When asked in court last week about what documents Fishback had to prove he’s lived in Florida the past seven years, Fishback pointed to his Wall Street Journal subscription and “a number of papers and conference registrations always including where I was living at the time,” which was with his grandmother in South Florida.

The race to replace Gov. Ron DeSantis has been fraught with controversy over the past year, with Fishback a prime figure of many of those scandals. Some lowlights of the 31-year-old Davie man’s campaign include: lying about being a commencement speaker at his alma mater Boyd H. Anderson High School in Lauderdale Lakes, wanting to impose a “sin tax” on OnlyFans performers, reportedly owing attorneys more than $150,000 in legal fees, and marrying Valeria Quimby months after posting photos of another woman he referred to as Florida’s future First Lady.

The question of his eligibility to run in Florida has circulated for months. It finally manifested in a lawsuit (attached below) earlier this month.

The crux of Collins’ argument centers on OTR granting Fishback’s D.C. apartment a homestead exemption (a tax break granted only for a homeowner’s primary residence) for his property taxes in 2021. Fishback previously told New Times he bought the D.C. apartment in question in 2021 because it was a block away from his parents’ home, but he never lived there full time as the lawsuit claims.

Fishback had an answer for that, too, telling New Times previously that the tax office erroneously granted the exemption.

OTR public affairs officer Eric Balliet previously told New Times the office “received a homestead deduction application for this property signed by Mr. Fishback and dated Sept. 24, 2021, which was processed by OTR on Oct. 7, 2021.”

Balliet did confirm part of Fishback’s account, saying an April 2026 audit found the homestead exemption had been erroneously applied beginning in 2023. That means the exemption was valid from 2021 until it was incorrectly renewed in 2023 — years that encompass the period during which a 2026 gubernatorial candidate would have had to establish Florida residency.

Ultimately, the judge sided with Fishback, meaning he’ll appear alongside Collins on the Republican primary ballot on August 18, ahead of Election Day on November 3.