Judge assigned as Florida GOP seeks emergency order to keep Democrats’ Hope Florida ads off TV

Circuit Judge Heather Beato was assigned on Oct. 19, 2026 to the Republican Party of Florida’s lawsuit seeking to stop Florida Democratic Party television ads about the Hope Florida grand jury report, and the same day the party filed an emergency motion asking for a temporary injunction without notice to the other side, according to the Highlands County court docket. As of Oct. 19, the docket showed no order entered and no hearing scheduled.¹

Lawyers Deanna Shullman and Rachel Fugate appeared for six of the station owners, and Ryan Barack appeared for the Florida Democratic Party, the docket shows.¹

The lawsuit

The Republican Party filed the case Friday, Oct. 16, in circuit court in Highlands County, Case No. 26000555GCAXMX.¹ The defendants are the Florida Democratic Party; three of its statewide nominees, David Jolly for governor, José Javier Rodríguez for attorney general and Annette Taddeo for chief financial officer; and the owners of 11 TV stations in the Orlando and Tampa Bay markets.²³

The claim rests on section 905.27, Florida Statutes, the state’s grand jury secrecy law. The Florida Trident reported that the complaint argues the law reaches broadcasting the “content, gist, or import” of the report, which a state appeals court ordered expunged in an Oct. 7 opinion. The complaint asks for an immediate order without notice barring the 30-second ad, later temporary and permanent injunctions, and a declaration that the stations may not air it and the party and candidates may not place it, the Trident reported.² The News Service of Florida reported the case was filed in the 10th Judicial Circuit.⁴

In a letter to station managers, Republican Party lawyer Benjamin Gibson of Shutts & Bowen wrote that the party was referring the matter to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and prosecutors, the Trident reported. Copies went to the department, the Statewide Prosecutor and state attorneys in 11 of Florida’s 20 judicial circuits.²

What each side says

The complaint describes its request as “narrowly tailored” and says it does not seek to restrain commentary on the candidates or on the appeals court’s opinion, the Trident reported. The party argued that the harm could not be undone once voters cast ballots based on the ad. Party chairman Evan Power told the Trident he did not know why the suit was filed in Highlands County.²

Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried said in a party release Oct. 19 that Republicans were “trying to get a judge to yank our ad without giving us an opportunity to respond.” The release said the party’s lawyers contend the Republican Party has no standing to bring the case.⁵ Taddeo said in a statement that “the answer is more transparency and accountability, not lawsuits and gag orders,” CBS Miami and the News Service of Florida reported.³⁴

Andrea Flynn Mogensen, a lawyer quoted by the Trident, said the requested order would be a prior restraint.² Bobby Block, executive director of the First Amendment Foundation, called the suit “an attempt to ride roughshod over the First Amendment,” TheWrap reported.⁶

The Democratic Party, the candidates and the station owners had not responded to the Trident as of its report. The Republican Party did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.²⁶

What the records do not show

• Whether any station has stopped or kept running the ad.
• Whether a hearing has been set or any order entered after Oct. 19.
• Any written response from the defendants, including the Democratic Party’s standing argument as filed in court.
• Whether any of the agencies or prosecutors copied on the letter to stations has opened a review.