Brenda Forman re-elected Broward Clerk of Courts despite recent bizarre behavior

BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. – Broward Clerk of Courts Brenda Forman came out on top Tuesday after facing off against Paul Backman and Mark Speiser in Tuesday’s primary election.

Forman was re-elected to her position despite criticisms about the way she runs her office, despite a Facebook rant where she claimed to have talked to God and despite the Sun Sentinel calling her inept.

Two retired judges, both with decades of experience, ran against her, but it appears the two judges split the vote of those seeking change.

No Republicans or Independents filed to run for clerk.

Forman came out with 44 percent of the votes Tuesday, while Speiser received 35% of votes and Paul Backman received 19%.

“Right now I am so excited. I am thrilled,” Forman told Local 10 News reporter Jeff Weinsier over the phone. “Knowing all that I went through with all the sickness in the month of July and was not able to do anything, I wasn’t able to campaign and talk to anyone, I wasn’t able to call anyone. So at that point when early voting rolls around, I said, ‘Let me get out here and do the best I can with what I do have, and just show the people that I am still there for them -- that I am still supporting them, that I will always support them,’ and I got out there, you know, early voting and did what I needed to do and here we are once again with another four years.”

Forman was elected in November 2016 and was the first African American and the first elected female clerk in the history of the Broward County Clerk of Court's Office.

Before being elected, she worked for ChildNet, the State Attorney’s Office and was the CEO and founder of the B Dixon Mortgage Company.

But Forman was pushed into the spotlight this primary because of her bizarre actions, like when she posted a 40-minute video on Facebook, claiming she heard from God when she was recovering from COVID-19.

“I serve to a living God, and that is my life,” Forman told Weinsier. “I am a Christian and when I talk it, I walk it. I don’t compromise my relationship with a God that I serve. And I stand by it, because it is totally true.”

Backman also called Forman out last month after a social media graphic she posted was deemed to be anti-Semitic.

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The post showed a quote that is falsely attributed to Hitler next to a photo that is meant to look like the Nazi leader. The text’s subject matter is about controlling a group of people by systematically and subtly revoking their rights.

Forman apologized and said she was not sharing the post to glorify the message or the man it was incorrectly attributed to.

Backman previously served as a judge in Broward County, beginning in 1984.

According to his campaign’s website, Backman spent 20 years “presiding over Career Criminal Divisions of Repeat Offenders and Violent Criminals and served as an Administrative Judge over an eight-year period, supervising over 16 different divisions.”

He also has trained new judges and instituted several programs still utilized at the courthouse.

Speiser is a former prosecutor and served as a Circuit Court judge in Broward County beginning in 1983, working in the juvenile, criminal, probate and civil divisions.

Click here to view the results of all races in South Florida.