There are several facets to the race between ousted State Attorney Andrew Warren and Suzy Lopez.
She was appointed to the position by Gov. Ron DeSantis after he removed Warren from office two years ago. Democrat Warren said he's still the duly-elected head prosecutor who was the victim of a politically motivated move by the Republican governor.
Warren had earlier announced he would not run again. He said he changed his mind about running for reelection after a federal appeals court ruled that a federal judge could reinstate him to office. But a federal judge has yet to act on that ruling.
Lopez, a former judge, said she's tougher on crime than Warren, who had pledged not to prosecute cases related to the state's new laws on transgender health care and abortion. Her campaign slogan is "Safer with Suzy," drawing a sharp distinction between her and Warren. One of her biggest backers is Hillsborough Sheriff Chad Chronister, who has appeared in ads with her.
During a joint appearance at Tampa Tiger Bay earlier this year, Lopez expounded on that theme.
“When I became the state attorney, it was my mission to clean up messes that had been left by my predecessor. I have rebuilt our relationships with our law enforcement partners. Those relationships were once broken. I've given a voice to victims and their families and I have held offenders accountable.”
Warren said he is "still the duly elected state attorney."
“Twice, this community put their faith in my vision of how to build a safer community by aggressively prosecuting the crimes that pose the greatest threats, by balancing punishment and accountability with prevention and rehabilitation,” Warren said. “We've had tremendous success working with law enforcement and no controversy until the governor's political stunt threw out your votes, broke the law and jeopardized our democracy.”
One hypothetical situation looms over all this: whether DeSantis would once again suspend Warren if he wins on Tuesday.
The governor hasn’t commented on that publicly, but told the News Service of Florida recently that “I think that’ll work itself out.”
And some observers have said if DeSantis does suspend him, it would likely be nullified by the courts again. And it could be seen that the governor is removing elected officials because he doesn’t agree with them.
