Seminole County voters, including those in Winter Springs, will choose between incumbent Judge Wayne Culver and challenger Alena Chaban for the Group 6 seat on the county court when they fill out the Nov. 3 ballot.
The race is a runoff. In the Aug. 18 primary, Chaban led a three-way field with 42.86% of the vote to Culver's 30.20%, while Erik Swenk drew 26.94%, according to unofficial results compiled by The Florida Bar News. Because no one passed 50%, the top two advanced. Judicial races in Florida are nonpartisan, so every registered voter in the county can vote in this one.
County court judges handle a broad mix of cases. Chaban described the docket as shifting from landlord-tenant disputes to misdemeanors to small claims trials. Both candidates answered the same questions in voter guides published by the Orlando Sentinel and produced by the News Collaborative of Central Florida.
Wayne Culver
Culver was elected to the bench in 2020. Before that he served in Brevard County as an assistant state attorney, had his own Seminole County law practice between 2004 and 2009 and then joined the public defender's office, where he said he supervised attorneys in the misdemeanor division.
He holds a history degree from the University of Central Florida and a law degree from Suffolk University. He said he currently carries more than 4,000 civil cases and resolves about 1,200 cases a month.
Asked about personal values, Culver said a judge must decide cases by the law and that values play no part, only experience and knowledge. On barriers to justice, he pointed to how little many people understand about the legal system and said judges owe patience to litigants who come to court without a lawyer. His most recent campaign finance report listed $70,495.
Alena Chaban
Chaban practices at a law firm she and her husband opened after she finished law school, handling family law, criminal defense, traffic and estate planning cases. She also serves as a Guardian ad Litem. She lives in the Sweetwater Club area near Wekiva.
