Gov. Ron DeSantis contends Hillsborough County is a “safer” place after he suspended State Attorney Andrew Warren. But he wouldn’t directly say if he would again suspend Warren if local voters elect the Democrat in November.
“It was appropriate what we did and it has made Hillsborough County safer as a result,” DeSantis said this week during an appearance in Redington Shores. “Criminals are held accountable in a much more significant way since Suzy Lopez has been the state attorney there in Hillsborough County. That’s just a fact. Talk to any of the sheriff’s deputies.”
Warren announced April 16 he would run again this year for state attorney, after being suspended by DeSantis in August 2022. DeSantis accused Warren of incompetence and a willful defiance of his duties, pointing in part to Warren signing a statement about enforcement of the state’s abortion laws.
DeSantis replaced Warren with Lopez, who is running for the position in November.
When pressed this week on whether he would suspend Warren again if the twice-elected state attorney wins the election, DeSantis first sputtered out, “If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, everyday would be Christmas,” before adding, “I think it’s all gonna work out.”
DeSantis also surmised that “Hillsborough County, probably by election day, is actually going to have more registered Republicans than Democrats.”
As of March 31, Hillsborough had 289,116 registered Democrats, 280,659 registered Republicans and 232,320 voters without party affiliation. On Dec. 31, it had 289,903 Democrats, 275,217 Republicans and 231,978 no-party voters.
Warren, in a conference call Wednesday with the Florida Democratic Party, said he was suspended for criticizing “extreme abortion bans, not for any action that I took.”
“This is putting pressure on prosecutors to violate their duty to enforce the law in the interests of justice, and instead coercing them to just blindly apply the law in order to appease the extreme politicians who pass them,” Warren said.
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Jim Turner, the News Service of Florida
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