Governor Ron DeSantis today announced the suspension of Orange County State Attorney Monique Worrell. Governor DeSantis alleges the misuse of prosecutorial discretion as the basis for the suspension. State Attorney Worrell is the only Black woman State Attorney in the State of Florida. Effective immediately, she has been replaced by Judge Andrew Bain, a DeSantis judicial appointee and member of the Federalist Society.
Chair Representative Dianne Hart issued the following statement: “Once again our Governor has put politics above people, despite saying during this morning’s press conference that “One’s political agenda cannot trump one’s solemn duty”. It is troubling that Florida is being used as a political pawn by this Governor to further a failing presidential bid. I am a firm believer that the voters knew who they wanted, that’s why Monique Worrell, Esq. was duly elected. Florida has real pressing issues. We have the highest inflation of any state, insurance companies continue to leave the state, inaccurate African American history standards, banning of books, escalation of gun violence, rising numbers of COVID-19 cases and because of gotcha politics like this, taxpayers have to spend millions of dollars to fund a legal defense of this Governor and his policies. This suspension was uncalled for; the Governor should be working on the real kitchen table issues of the state, and not attempt to score political points at the expense of others.
Representative LaVon Bracy-Davis issued the following the statement: “The suspension of State Attorney Monique Worrell is just another despicable example of Ron DeSantis using his executive privilege to fight tooth and nail for political points in a race he is sorely losing. This is an attack on the black community and outright voter disenfranchisement. He criticizes the 45th president for disenfranchising voters and not accepting his loss, but turns around and does the same exact thing to the people of Florida when they let their voice be heard at the ballot box. We have to see the parallels of hypocrisy that the Governor time and time again commits. It’s time for us to get up, wake up and get engaged because we are witnessing an attack on our democracy. I urgently call for the immediate reinstatement, of State Attorney Monique Worrell, Esq. and insist that the Governor and his friends stay out of Orange County politics as the voters have spoken and we are what democracy looks like.
Again, we stand ready to assist this legislative process, given the opportunity because the citizens of Florida deserve better.
