Worrell wins back prosecutor's job in Florida after suspension by DeSantis
TALLAHASSEE - Monique Worrell, an Orlando area state attorney suspended by Gov. Ron DeSantis last year, won back her job in Tuesday's election, but suspended Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren fell short.
Worrell, a Democrat who was elected state attorney in 2020, received support Tuesday from 57%t of voters in the 9th Judicial Circuit, which includes Orange and Osceola counties. Worrell defeated Andrew Bain, a former Orange County judge tapped by DeSantis to replace Worrell after the August 2023 suspension.
DeSantis alleged that Worrell's policies prevented or discouraged assistant state attorneys from seeking minimum mandatory sentences for gun crimes and drug-trafficking offenses. Worrell asked the Florida Supreme Court to reinstate her to the post, but justices in June upheld the governor's action.
Two voters and the group Florida Rising Together also filed a federal lawsuit challenging Worrell's suspension, arguing that "following through on her campaign promises to reform the criminal legal system, Ms. Worrell was doing nothing other than meeting her professional and ethical obligations and exercising her prosecutorial discretion." That lawsuit is pending.
Florida Democrats applauded Worrell's victory Tuesday.
"Democracy wins. Tonight, Florida voters sent Monique Worrell back to work," Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Nikki Fried said in a statement, calling Worrell's suspension "a politically motivated stunt to virtue signal and score cheap points" for DeSantis' unsuccessful presidential campaign.
Warren, however, was defeated as he sought to regain the top prosecutor's job in Tuesday's election. State Attorney Suzy Lopez, appointed by DeSantis to replace Warren in 2022, won about 52% of votes in the race in the 13th Judicial Circuit in Hillsborough County.
In suspending Warren, DeSantis accused him of "incompetence and willful defiance of his duties."
Warren filed a federal lawsuit challenging the suspension.