Two Democratic Florida prosecutors suspended by Gov. Ron DeSantis will seek reelection in 2024 as one fights his removal in a federal appeals court.
The two Republicans denounced Ms. Worrell for not pursuing a misdemeanor drug charge against the 19-year-old alleged shooter, Keith Moses, more than a year before the incident. Mr. DeSantis charged Ms. Worrell with allowing “violent criminals to escape the full consequences of their criminal conduct” and replaced her with former judge Andrew Bain.
Ms. Worrell called it a “political hit job” and immediately vowed to run for reelection in 2024. The Epoch Times has reached out to Ms. Worrell for comment.
Mr. Warren, who defended his statements on abortion and “gender-affirming care” for minors as First Amendment-protected speech, said in January that he would not run for his seat. The attorney reversed course after a federal appeals court ruled the same month that a Tallahassee trial judge should hear his case again.
U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed that Mr. Warren’s statements were protected by the First Amendment but also suggested the governor could have fired the state attorney for job-related reasons. Now, while the case remains pending in court, Mr. DeSantis will have to prove that Mr. Warren’s suspension was due to his job performance.
The judge will hear the case later this year but the qualification for election in the 13th Judicial Circuit expires the last week of April.
Mr. Warren was elected to the 13th Judicial Circuit in 2016 and won reelection in 2020.
“Today, I’m running for election as state attorney to serve the people, all the people in Hillsborough County. I’m running to keep our neighborhoods safe,” Mr. Warren said in the video.
“And I’m running to protect our values for a woman’s right to choose for a fair and just system—and above all—for freedom and democracy.”
He wrote about the Arizona Supreme Court upholding an 1864 abortion ban that restricts abortion across the board, with threats to the mother’s life as the only exception. Mr. Warren warned that it would have a “seismic impact” on the state’s politics and the 2024 presidential race, with Arizona being a key “swing state” in deciding who wins the White House.
Mr. Warren also wrote about Mr. DeSantis’s decision to suspend him.
“If a governor or legislature can remove an election’s winner and install the loser because of policy disagreements, there is little point in having an election in the first place,” the attorney wrote, referring to Mr. DeSantis’s decision to replace him with Suzy Lopez, a Hillsborough County Judge.
The Epoch Times has contacted Mr. DeSantis’s office for comment.
“Two federal courts have ruled the suspension was unconstitutional, and I look forward to being reinstated to continue to serve the community that twice elected me,” Mr. Warren wrote in an email to The Epoch Times.
“I will continue to uphold the rule of law, as I have always done, to protect the safety and freedom of my community,” he added.
“Disgraced prosecutors Andrew Warren and Monique Worrell are running to get their old jobs back after being suspended by @GovRonDeSantis. They neglected their duty and refused to enforce our laws,” the party wrote. “Pledge to stand against these WOKE prosecutors!”
“Andrew Warren is a fighter and Hillsborough’s only duly elected State Attorney. We welcome his decision to run for re-election and stay in the fight to return as Hillsborough State Attorney. That decision is now rightfully in the hands of voters, not Ron DeSantis,” Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried said in the statement.
The party also released a statement in 2023 after Mr. DeSantis suspended Ms. Worrell.
“Ron DeSantis has gone too far,” Ms. Fried wrote. “Monique Worrell is a devoted public servant—one who was elected overwhelmingly by her constituents. This political hit job threatens our democracy and undermines the will of the people.”
