Former State Attorney Warren opts out of reelection bid following DeSantis suspension
TAMPA, Fla. – Former State Attorney Andrew Warren announced Monday that he will not run for reelection after Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended him.
Warren said he planned to run for reelection since DeSantis suspended him from his state attorney position of the 13th Judicial Circuit in August 2022, but said the governor could suspend him again.
“Because the courts have let this illegal political stunt stand, if I ran and won, he could suspend me again for whatever bogus reason he wanted,” Warren said. “And then we’d be right back where we are today, with an illegal, unqualified political appointee installed in the job.”
“I care about the State Attorney’s Office in this community too much to have that cloud of uncertainty hanging over us,” he continued. “So I’ve decided not to run for a position that I’ve won twice, and would win again. “
Upon suspension, DeSantis said Warren failed to prosecute certain crimes and vowed not to enforce certain abortion restrictions or potential laws related to sex change operations for minors.
“State attorneys have a duty to prosecute crimes as defined in Florida law, not to pick and choose which laws to enforce based on his personal agenda,” DeSantis previously explained.
Warren filed suit in federal court, denying the allegations. His efforts to be reinstated were denied three times in September 2022, January 2023, and again in June.
“Ron DeSantis broke our democracy, and it’s too fragile and too important to let him do it again,” Warren said Monday. “So I’ll take one for the team and not run as I continue to challenge the illegal suspension in court and fight to serve out my term on behalf of the community that elected me.”
The ruling in June to uphold Warren’s suspension came from the Florida Supreme Court, which rebuked a lower court for making opinions on the facts of Warren’s suspension and whether the “Soros-backed” state attorney “neglected his duty or was incompetent.”
The Florida Supreme Court ruling affirmed that the Florida Senate has the function of reviewing the evidence “upon which the Governor suspends an officer.”
