- GOP presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis just suspended an elected Democratic state attorney.
- He said State Attorney Monique Worrell neglected her duty as a prosecutor.
GOP presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis just replaced an elected Democratic state prosecutor, the second time he's done so in just over a year.
Stepping away from the campaign trail on Wednesday, DeSantis announced he had officially suspended State Attorney Monique Worrell, citing a "neglect of duty and incompetence," and replaced her with Andrew Bain, who was serving as an Orange County Court judge before his new appointment.
"It is my duty as Governor to ensure that the laws enacted by our duly elected Legislature are followed," DeSantis said. "The people of Central Florida deserve to have a state attorney who will seek justice in accordance with the law instead of allowing violent criminals to roam the streets and find new victims."
Worrell, a Democrat, was elected as Florida's Ninth Judicial Circuit State Attorney in November 2020, where she garnered 66.6 percent of the final vote against her Republican opponent.
In August 2022, DeSantis suspended State Attorney Andrew Warren, also a Democrat and elected official, alleging Warren was picking and choosing which laws to enforce after he said he wouldn't pursue cases related to gender-affirming healthcare or abortion.
Warren has since fought his suspension in court — a federal judge found DeSantis' accusations to be "false" and said the governor violated Warren's First Amendment rights but he didn't have the authority to reinstate Warren as state attorney.
As DeSantis cracks down on another duly-elected state prosecutor, his campaign is currently underwater and struggling to catch up to former President Donald Trump in the polls. According to an average of "major" polls from FiveThirtyEight, Trump holds a commanding lead with 52.4 percent support compared to DeSantis' 15.6 percent.
DeSantis has promised to reboot his campaign in recent months, leading to several internal layoffs. On Tuesday, he replaced his campaign manager, Generra Peck, who had no previous national campaign experience, with James Uthmeier, his gubernatorial chief of staff, who also has no national campaign experience.