Circuit Judge Krista Marx considering a run for McAuliffe's vacant seat

WEST PALM BEACH — In the wake of the stunning announcement that Palm Beach County State Attorney Michael McAuliffe will leave office before his first term ends, speculation about a replacement has been the subject of much conversation in and around the courthouse.

Former state Sen. Dave Aronberg is the only declared candidate for the job in the November election and would have battled McAuliffe in a Democratic primary had McAuliffe continued his re-election campaign. Now another potential candidate has surfaced, one whose run could have potentially historic implications for the office.

Circuit Judge Krista Marx, a former prosecutor who has presided over high-profile cases including the Dunbar Village gang rape and the murder of Curious George collaborator Alan J. Shalleck, said last week that she is considering a run to become the county's top prosecutor.

The stakes are high.

Marx would be the first sitting judge in the Palm Beach circuit to leave the bench to run for the office. And if she were to win, she would become the area's first female state attorney.

"I said last week that I'm weighing it, and I am still weighing it. That's really all I can say," Marx said Thursday.

Polls late last year showed Aronberg with a 15-point advantage over McAuliffe, but there are no numbers out on how he would fare against Marx.

Aronberg has name recognition, the ability to raise money for a race and strong south county support, according to the local political community. But Marx, with 13 years as a prosecutor and another 14 as a judge, has respect among local attorneys.

Marx has built a reputation for being decisive, tough but fair. Her work presiding over Palm Beach County's drug court and mental health court has been among her passions as a judge.

Aronberg, now the West Palm Beach-based special prosecutor on prescription drug trafficking under Attorney General Pam Bondi, said Marx's decision won't affect his candidacy.

"I am committed to the state attorney's race no matter who else files," Aronberg said Friday. "I have a passion for this job, and it's a job I can do."

McAuliffe on Friday sent a resignation letter to Gov. Rick Scott and specified that his last day in office would be March 16. The governor is expected to appoint an interim state attorney to replace him until the election winner takes office next year.

The state attorney's job for Marx, who is married to Circuit Judge Joseph Marx, would mean that her husband would have to transfer off the criminal bench.

Krista Marx's friends and colleagues last week expressed excitement at the fact that she would even think about a run.

Palm Beach County Judge Laura Johnson, the daughter-in-law of former state attorney and Circuit Judge Tom "Red" Johnson, worked with Marx when both were prosecutors.

"I think the amazing thing about her is that she is so much more than an experienced prosecutor and a judge," Johnson said. "She's a wife, a mother, a friend, and she's just someone of outstanding character."