TAMPA, Fla. — Florida voters next week won't just be deciding races across the country, they will be deciding the fate of dozens of circuit court judges and one Florida Supreme Court Justice.

Judicial merit retention requires all of Florida's 597 Circuit Court Judges and seven Supreme Court Justices to be retained by voters every six years.

It is rare for a judge to be voted off the bench, especially in Florida's Supreme Court.

"You would think that in our long history of razor thin elections, at least a couple of justices would have been denied the right to continue serving on the bench," Spectrum Bay News 9 Capitol Reporter Troy Kinsey said.  "In fact that has never happened in the history of merit retention."

There was an effort in the 2017 legislative session to extend term limits for judges to 12 years, but that effort did not gain enough support.

There is one Florida Supreme Court Justice up for retirement on the general election ballot.  Carlos Muniz was appointed to the court by Governor Ron DeSantis in January 2019.

Local races have dozens of circuit court judges on the ballot this election cycle.