Florida’s Governor isn’t committing to let two State Attorneys he removed from office serve if they’re elected this November.
When asked directly if he would be willing to “tell the voters” that he “overthrew the popular vote” if he removed Democrats Andrew Warren and Monique Worrell from office again in the 13th and 9th Judicial Circuits, respectively, Gov. Ron DeSantis offered no such commitment in Pinellas Park.
“When both of those folks were in office, they took the position that they didn’t have to enforce laws they disagreed with that caused people to be put back on the street who then victimized folks that should not have been victimized,” DeSantis said, adding that “law enforcement” shared his concerns.
Warren won his Democratic Primary with more than 70% of the vote; Worrell was unopposed in her Primary. Their opponents, backed by DeSantis after he appointed them as fill-ins, are Republicans Suzy Lopez and Andrew Bain. Bain is running as an independent against Worrell.
The Democrats were removed for “neglect of duty” in Warren’s case and “neglecting her duty to faithfully prosecute crime in her jurisdiction” in Worrell’s.
“You need prosecutors that are going to be guided by the law and that are going to enforce the law without fear or favor. They are not going to be bringing in a political agenda. And certainly, you cannot have prosecutors that are going to coddle the criminals and care more about the feelings and the rights of criminals than they do about the well-being of the victims of the crimes,” DeSantis argued.
The goal, DeSantis said, is to “make sure that our state is safe,” especially in population centers.
“We want to make sure law and order prevails, but particularly in some of the more urban areas, you’ve got to hold criminals accountable,” he added. “You cannot have a revolving door where they just keep going out and out.”
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