Democratic Florida Official Removed from Job by DeSantis Wins Election Against DeSantis-Backed Republican

A Democratic Florida prosecutor has won her position back after she was removed by Gov. Ron DeSantis last year.

Monique Worrell previously served as the state attorney in Orlando, but was removed by DeSantis in August 2023 and replaced. However, she was able to defeat Independent Andrew Bain, who was appointed by DeSantis in her place, with 57% of the votes, as reported by Bolts.

DeSantis previously accused Worrell of being soft on crime, however Worrell defended her record and called the removal a political attack, as reported by Florida Politics.

"Democracy wins. Tonight, Florida voters sent Monique Worrell back to work," Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried said in a statement obtained by Florida Politics. "State Attorney Monique Worrell rightfully returns to office, winning re-election to continue serving the people of Ninth Judicial District as their duly-elected State Attorney."

The Florida governor had also made similar claims about Hillsborough County prosecutor Andrew Warren, and removed him as well. Both Worrell and Warren argued against their suspensions in court.

"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 previously said during a press conference in September, according to Florida Politics.

While Worrell was able to secure her seat again, Warren lost his race to incumbent Suzy Lopez, who was appointed by DeSantis after removing Warren in August 2022.