Ferrero wins Judge 2 seat

In a judicial race made memorable by unusually contentious and expensive campaigns, Denise Ferrero defeated Lorraine Sherman by a moderate margin.

"Of course, I'm thrilled," said Ferrero as she celebrated with her campaign team at 101 Downtown. "People have given me such positive feedback and I'm looking forward to serving them as Alachua County judge."

Ferrero was well ahead of Sherman as the Supervisor of Elections Office tallied the final ballots.

"We had a lot of volunteers out there and I'd like to thank them for their hard work," Sherman said.

Ferrero will take the Alachua County Judge Group 2 seat, which is being vacated by Judge William Davis, who is moving up to circuit court.

Ferrero, 41, served two years as a traffic court hearing officer, deciding hundreds of disputed speeding ticket cases.

Her career began as an intern in the State Attorney's Office and, after receiving her law degree in 1993, she became a prosecutor for misdemeanor crimes.

Eventually Ferrero became the head of the department for crimes against women and children.

Sherman, who is a family law attorney in La Crosse, questioned the transparency of some of Ferrero's qualifications and statistics during the race.

She ran ads on TV and in the local newspaper that questioned Ferrero's integrity.

Critics said judicial races should stay positive, while Sherman's supporters said the ads were necessary.

"What Alachua County wanted was a good clean race," Ferrero said. "That's what I did."

Sherman spent more than $110,000 on her campaign, about $97,000 of which she personally contributed.

Ferrero received about $67,000 in donations and personally spent about $9,000 on her campaign.

It was the most expensive local race in Alachua County.