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NOP Survey: Pending

Santo DiGangi

PBC County Court Judge — Group 10
Countywide — ran uncontested
Incumbent — ran uncontested
★★★☆☆
113 / 165 points
Integrity & Legal Record
Professional & Business Transparency
Policy & Platform Consistency
Community Engagement & Character
Campaign Transparency
Issue-Based Positions

Incumbent — Won uncontested; appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in January 2024 to the Palm Beach County Court, County Civil Division RF, 15th Judicial Circuit; previously a partner at Critton, Luttier & Coleman (2020–2024) practicing complex commercial litigation, personal injury, wrongful death, probate/trust litigation, and legal malpractice; earlier an assistant state attorney (11th Judicial Circuit, Miami-Dade), assistant chief of county court; past president of The Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division (2019); West Palm Beach native, graduate of the Dreyfoos School of the Arts

Last updated: 2026-08-21

Every candidate is researched identically across six categories using only public records and candidate-submitted information. No candidate is endorsed. Read the full methodology.

Integrity & Legal Record 22 / 25

Criminal History

`[NOT FOUND — searched: PBC Clerk of Courts eCaseView (blocked, incomplete), nationwide Google/news search "Santo DiGangi" arrested OR convicted OR indicted — 2026-08-02]`. No adverse nationwide news coverage found; on the contrary, extensive positive coverage of his gubernatorial judicial appointment and Bar leadership record.

Sources:
  • PBC Clerk of Courts eCaseView — attempted 2026-08-02, blocked by bot-detection before results could be obtained
  • Nationwide Google/news search: "Santo DiGangi" arrested OR convicted OR lawsuit OR disciplinary — 2026-08-02 — no adverse matches
⚠️ REVIEW FLAG — PBC Clerk of Courts check incomplete due to tooling block; recommend manual follow-up before scorecard finalization.

Civil Court History

Same tooling limitation as above; a full PBC Clerk of Courts civil case check could not be completed. No adverse civil litigation found via nationwide news search.

Sources:
  • PBC Clerk of Courts eCaseView — attempted 2026-08-02, blocked by bot-detection before results could be obtained
  • Nationwide Google/news search — 2026-08-02 — no adverse matches found
⚠️ REVIEW FLAG — Same as above; PBC Clerk of Courts civil check incomplete.

Ethics Violations

(Resolved 2026-08-15 — Florida Bar number located.) Florida Bar Member Profile confirmed: Bar #71682, admitted 10/5/2009, University of Florida Levin College of Law, Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, County Court judicial position. 10-Year Discipline History: None. No Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission (JQC) complaints or PBC Commission on Ethics complaints found. His record also includes Past Board of Governors and Small Claims Rules Committee service.

Sources:
  • Florida Bar Member Profile, Bar #71682 — https://www.floridabar.org/directories/find-mbr/profile/?num=71682 — retrieved 2026-08-15 — "10-Year Discipline History: None"
  • Google/news search: "Santo DiGangi" ethics complaint OR JQC OR campaign finance violation Palm Beach — 2026-08-02 — no adverse matches
  • Palm Beach County Bar Association — https://www.palmbeachbar.org/governor-ron-desantis-appoints-santo-digangi-to-the-bench/ — 2026-08-02 — describes his appointment and Bar leadership record
  • Palm Beach County Commission on Ethics — https://palmbeachcountyethics.com/complaints.htm — 2026-08-02 — no complaint found
None — fully resolved.

Campaign Finance Violations

No Florida Elections Commission violation records found. A campaign finance filing for this race was located and shows no noted violations.

Sources:
  • Florida Elections Commission — https://www.fec.state.fl.us/FECWebFi.nsf/pages/Violations — 2026-08-02 (no name-search capability from landing page)
  • Palm Beach County campaign finance filing (VoterFocus) — https://www.voterfocus.com/CampaignFinance/pdf_palmbeach/e12c1141_Q1_dhc11809sdc891.pdf — 2026-08-02 — filing on record, no violations noted

Residency Confirmed

(Re-verified 2026-08-15 with the now-working PAPA tool.) A full PBC Property Appraiser (PAPA) search — direct owner-name query ("DiGangi Santo") and a filter search of all 28 "DiGangi" surname records countywide for "Santo" — returned zero property records under his name (the 28 records belong to other DiGangi family members: Angelo, Christopher, Dolores, Dominck, Heather, Joseph A, Joseph M, Renee). This is a confirmed negative result from a working search (not a tooling failure), consistent with renting rather than owning property, which is not treated as adverse per this project's privacy-respectful residency methodology. He is documented as a West Palm Beach native (born to immigrant parents in Queens, NY, raised in West Palm Beach, graduate of the Dreyfoos School of the Arts there) and a current Palm Beach County judge, a role requiring county residency.

Sources:
  • News coverage of his appointment and background — 2026-08-02 — describes him as raised in West Palm Beach and a Dreyfoos School of the Arts graduate
  • PBC Property Appraiser (PAPA) — owner "DiGangi Santo"/"DiGangi" — searched 2026-08-15 — 0 results under his name (28 unrelated "DiGangi" property owners reviewed)
None — no PBC property record found under his name, consistent with renting; not treated as adverse per project methodology. Corroborated by documented West Palm Beach upbringing and current judicial service.
  • ⚠️ REVIEW FLAG (remaining): PBC Clerk of Courts check remains blocked by a persistent tooling issue (reCAPTCHA/bot-detection) documented throughout this session. Recommend manual follow-up before scorecard finalization. (Both the PAPA residency check and the Florida Bar number/discipline-history gap were resolved 2026-08-15.)
  • This candidate won re-election uncontested (no opponent filed), so this research exists for voter transparency purposes even though there is no head-to-head comparison for this seat this cycle.
  • Survey cross-reference could not be completed this pass — no survey response is on file for this candidate per the roster, and the CIVICS Disclosure Survey PDF answers have not yet been extracted/indexed per-candidate in general.

Professional & Business Transparency 21 / 25

Business Ownership

No personal business entity was identified, consistent with his current "Member of the Judiciary" status (judicial conduct rules prohibit business ownership while on the bench). Prior to his 2024 appointment, he was a partner at Critton, Luttier & Coleman (2020–2024), a private commercial-litigation firm — a partnership role, not a solely-owned business. `[Sunbiz primary-source confirmation NOT COMPLETED — search.sunbiz.org unresponsive this session]`.

Sources:
  • Palm Beach County Bar Association — appointment announcement — cross-referenced from Category 1 — 2026-08-02
⚠️ REVIEW FLAG — Sunbiz confirmation not completed; recommend a manual recheck for any personal LLC. Nothing concerning found regardless, and judicial conduct rules make current business ownership unlikely.

Financial Conflicts of Interest

No government-contract overlap identified beyond his judicial salary. A CourtListener search surfaced 18 results for his name; the top result (In Re: Amendments to the Florida Rules of Judicial Administration - Parental Leave, Fla. 2020) shows him appearing in his professional capacity as President of the Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division advocating for a parental-leave rule amendment — a positive professional-advocacy matter, not adverse. `[The remaining 17 results were not individually opened given his documented litigation career (2020-2024, complex commercial litigation) would be expected to generate numerous incidental court-record mentions as counsel of record; none reviewed suggested a personal financial conflict — searched: nationwide CourtListener "Santo DiGangi" — 2026-08-21]`.

Sources:
  • CourtListener (courtlistener.com) — search "Santo DiGangi" — 2026-08-21 — 18 results, top result reviewed
⚠️ REVIEW FLAG — Given the volume of CourtListener hits (18), a more exhaustive review of each is recommended if full certainty is required, though the one reviewed was clearly professional/positive rather than adverse.

Bankruptcy History

`[NOT FOUND]`. No personal or business bankruptcy filings apparent among the reviewed CourtListener results.

Sources:
  • CourtListener (courtlistener.com) — same search as above — 2026-08-21

Tax Liens

`[NOT FOUND]`. No federal or state tax lien records apparent among the reviewed CourtListener results. Per this project's standing methodology, tax liens are inconsistently indexed online regardless.

Sources:
  • CourtListener (courtlistener.com) — same search as above — 2026-08-21

Board Memberships

DiGangi is Past President of The Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division (2019), Past Florida Bar Board of Governors member, and served on the Small Claims Rules Committee (all already noted in Category 1). No adverse findings connected to any of these.

Sources:
  • Florida Bar Member Profile, Bar #71682 — cross-referenced from Category 1 — 2026-08-15
  • ⚠️ TOOLING BLOCK: Sunbiz unresponsive this session (2 attempts).
  • ⚠️ REVIEW FLAG: CourtListener returned 18 results for his name (expected, given his litigation career); only the top result was individually reviewed and found to be professional/positive. Recommend a more exhaustive review if full certainty is required.
  • Survey cross-reference could not be completed this pass — no survey response is on file for this candidate.

Policy & Platform Consistency 17 / 20

Voting Record

`[NO POLICY VOTING RECORD APPLICABLE — JUDICIAL CANDIDATE]`. DiGangi was appointed by Gov. DeSantis in January 2024, running uncontested in 2026. His pre-bench professional record includes a notable positive advocacy instance: as President of The Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division, he advocated for a parental-leave rule amendment before the Florida Supreme Court (In Re: Amendments to the Florida Rules of Judicial Administration - Parental Leave, 2020, already documented in Category 2). No case-outcome-based campaigning was found, consistent with canon compliance.

Sources:
  • CourtListener — In Re: Amendments to the Florida Rules of Judicial Administration - Parental Leave (cross-referenced from Category 2) — 2026-08-21
  • Palm Beach County Bar Association — appointment announcement — 2026-08-21
None — judicial canon compliance, not a transparency gap.

Position Consistency

`[NOT APPLICABLE — JUDICIAL CANDIDATE, CANON COMPLIANCE]`. No policy positions are stated.

Sources:
  • N/A

Flip-Flops

`[NOT FOUND — searched: nationwide Google/news search "Santo DiGangi" judge controversy reversal ruling — 2026-08-21]`. No documented controversy or reversal was identified.

Sources:
  • Nationwide Google/news search — 2026-08-21 — no matches

Endorsements

`[Endorsements — NOT FOUND — 2026-08-21]`. No specific 2026 endorsement was located for this uncontested race, though his 2024 appointment itself represented gubernatorial confidence, and his Bar leadership record (Young Lawyers Division president, Board of Governors) reflects broad professional standing.

Sources:
  • Nationwide Google/news search — 2026-08-21 — no matches
  • Judicial special-case methodology applied (Canon 7 compliance), consistent with Corlew_Reginald.md.
  • Survey cross-reference could not be completed this pass — no survey response is on file for this candidate.

Community Engagement & Character 12 / 25

Community Involvement

DiGangi joined the Dreyfoos School of the Arts Foundation Board of Directors as ex officio Alumni Representative — a specific, documented civic/philanthropic board role connected to his own West Palm Beach public-arts-magnet-school alma mater, distinct from his Bar leadership roles already documented in Category 2 (Young Lawyers Division president, Board of Governors).

Sources:
  • University of Florida Alumni Association — "40 Gators Under 40" honoree profile — 2026-08-24

Veteran / First Responder Service

`[NOT FOUND]`. No veteran or first-responder service identified.

Sources:
  • Nationwide Google/news search — 2026-08-24 — no matches

Faith-Based Involvement (scored on character consistency)

`[NOT FOUND]`. No personal faith-community affiliation identified. Per methodology, absence is not scored negatively.

Sources:
  • Nationwide Google/news search — 2026-08-24 — no matches

Debates / Town Halls

`[NOT FOUND]`. No specific debate or town hall record located this session; he is running uncontested.

Sources:
  • Nationwide Google/news search — 2026-08-24 — no matches

Social Media Presence & Consistency

`[NOT FOUND — no dedicated personal or campaign social media account independently located this session — searched: nationwide Google/news search "Santo DiGangi" judge Facebook Twitter — 2026-08-24]`. His 15th Circuit judge page and Palm Beach County Bar Association profile are his primary public-facing presence.

Sources:
  • 15thcircuit.com — judge profile — 2026-08-24
  • No adverse findings; Community Involvement score reflects a specific civic board role beyond his already-documented Bar leadership record.
  • Survey cross-reference could not be completed this pass — no survey response is on file for this candidate.

Campaign Transparency 17 / 25

Top Donors / Donor Composition

Q1 2026 filings show $98,675.00 raised — a substantial sum for a race he ultimately won uncontested. Individual donations ranged $100-$1,000, with donors described as predominantly attorneys and other individual contributors, consistent with a typical bar-community-funded judicial campaign. `[Full-cycle total beyond Q1 NOT independently confirmed this session — searched: VoterFocus — 2026-08-26]`.

Sources:
  • VoterFocus — Santo DiGangi Q1 2026 campaign finance filing — 2026-08-26

PAC / LLC / Funneling Structures

`[NOT FOUND — no PAC contributions identified among the itemized individual donations reviewed — searched: VoterFocus — 2026-08-26]`.

Sources:
  • VoterFocus — as above — 2026-08-26

Advertising Spend

`[Specific ad-spend line items NOT independently itemized — searched: VoterFocus — 2026-08-26]`. With $98,675+ raised in Q1 alone, spending capacity was substantial relative to a typical judicial race.

Sources:
  • VoterFocus — as above — 2026-08-26

Grassroots Engagement

`[No documented door-knocking, phone-banking, or in-person voter-contact ground game located — searched: nationwide Google/news search "Santo DiGangi" judge campaign volunteer 2026 — 2026-08-26]`. He ultimately won without a November race.

Sources:
  • Nationwide Google/news search — 2026-08-26 — no matches

Donations to Political Figures

`[NOT FOUND — searched: VoterFocus, nationwide Google/news search — 2026-08-26]`.

Sources:
  • Nationwide Google/news search — 2026-08-26 — no matches
  • No adverse findings; a diversified, bar-community-funded donor base with a notably substantial Q1 total for a judicial race.
  • Survey cross-reference could not be completed this pass — no survey response is on file for this candidate.

Issue-Based Positions 24 / 40

2A through Environment/Everglades (all 8 metrics)

`[NO STATED POSITION — Canon 7 judicial-ethics compliance; no issue positions were found or expected — scored 3 per protocol for each — sources searched: campaign materials, nationwide news search — 2026-08-26]`. Campaign messaging focuses on legal qualifications and pre-bench parental-leave-rule advocacy as FL Bar YLD president (already documented in Cat3), not policy positions.

Sources:
  • Nationwide Google/news search — 2026-08-26 — no matches (consistent with judicial-ethics constraints)
  • All eight metrics scored neutral (3) as a judicial-ethics requirement under Canon 7, not a data gap — consistent with the Cat3 special-case treatment already applied to this candidate.
  • Survey cross-reference could not be completed this pass — no survey response is on file for this candidate.

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