Exclusive: Judicial candidate Nathan Skop not rehirable by state attorney’s office

Nathan Skop, a candidate for Seminole County judge, resigned from his position as a prosecutor in 2025 and is not rehirable by the office, according to an official with the state attorney’s office – which experts said could have a sizeable impact on the race. 

 Skop is running against incumbent Judge Sylvia “Sly” Grunor for Seminole County Judge Group 3. In 2025, Skop was an assistant state attorney for the 18th Judicial Circuit. 

After an appeals judge ordered a retrial in 2025 for a case, Skop resigned.

“He’s not rehirable,” said Matt Reed, public information officer for the State Attorney’s 18th Judicial Circuit. “It was for professional reasons.”

Reed said the office decided to publicly comment on whether Skop was rehirable because the office would offer that information to potential employers. 

Skop did not respond to six phone calls, multiple voicemails, four text messages and three emails requesting comment for this story since Monday. 

Editor’s note: It’s important to give the subject of any accusation a chance to respond. Read OCN’s ethics policy here. 

Aubrey Jewett is a political science professor at the University of Central Florida. He said judicial races are notoriously low-information races for voters.

“A judicial candidate’s background and experience are more important than they are in other races,” Jewett said. “If he was deemed not rehireable that would be a significant factor in the race.”

Former Judge Fred Schott said the issue where a judge ordered a retrial isn’t that uncommon. But he said that not being rehirable by the state attorney’s office “is a story.”

“It takes a lot to be unrehirable for jobs that don’t pay that much in the grand scheme of things,” Schott said. 

Related: Seminole County judicial candidates answer questions about Supreme Court cases

The case in question

The case in question was a trespassing case from 2024, where a homeless man with a long record was trespassed from Walmart. 

Skop was one of the assistant prosecutors during the 2025 trial that followed. The prosecution didn’t disclose to the public defender’s office that the man had a long criminal record, including felony charges from an incident in 2022. 

The man took the stand in his trial. 

“On cross examination, the State inquired as [to] the Defendant’s prior felony convictions and crimes of dishonesty,” Judge Debra Krause wrote in the order for a new trial. So the state produced and asked to admit the prior felony convictions into evidence. 

“The Defense objected and argued that the State had not disclosed these Judgment and Sentences,” Krause continued. “The State admitted they had not disclosed the Judgment and Sentences because they believed they did not have to make such disclosure pursuant to the rules.”

The prosecution eventually won the case, with the defendant found guilty. But Krause ordered the guilty verdict vacated and ordered the case to be retried due to the error during the trial by the prosecution team that Skop was a part of, which Krause wrote could have prejudiced the jury. 

Skop was the prosecutor who cross examined the defendant, and also did the closing statements in the trial. After the appeals judge ordered a new trial, the state dropped the charges.

Skop has talked about his role as a prosecutor as part of his campaign. In August of 2025, Skop introduced himself as a candidate during public comment at a Sanford City Commission meeting. 

“While serving as an assistant state attorney for the 18th Judicial Circuit, I worked with our dedicated law enforcement officers, including Sanford Police Department and victims of crimes, to prosecute criminals and keep our community safe,” Skop said. 

While making those remarks during public input, Skop was twice told that public comment was for items before the City Commission. 

“Introducing oneself as a Sanford native to the City Commission is well within my public participation rights, with all due respect,” Skop said.   

Skop also served on the Public Service Commission, which sets rate hikes for utilities. While there, Skop sparred with Florida Power and Light; Skop had been an FPL employee for two years, according to media reports. 

There were questions about how he left that job as well, according to a Politico article. Florida Power and Light filed legal briefs asking the state to pull Skop as a commissioner. 

Skop later ran for 8th circuit judge in Alachua County and is now a candidate for two judgeship elections, this year and in 2028.

Voting is already underway in the 2026 Seminole County judge race. According to the Seminole County Supervisor of Elections, more than 24,000 votes had already been cast as of Aug. 12. 

Skop has already filed to run for judge in 2028. He initially filed to run for Judge John Woodard’s Seat 1, said D’Anne Mica, a spokeswoman for Supervisor of Election. That was based on the expectation that Judge Woodard would retire at the end of his term. 

However, Judge Woodard left the bench earlier than anticipated due to health reasons, which resulted in the vacancy being filled by gubernatorial appointment in 2025 rather than through the 2026 election.

“Because the petitions he had already collected were specific to that seat, Skop transferred that campaign account and petitions to the 2028 election cycle, which is the next time that seat is scheduled to appear on the ballot,” Mica wrote. “Otherwise, those petitions would no longer have been valid for that race.”

Abe Aboraya is a Report for America corps member.