As voters make their final choices for president, senator and amendments to the Florida Constitution, what Hillsborough County residents decide Tuesday in the race for state attorney will be one of the most closely watched elections in the state.

It’s a race that began more than two years ago when Gov. Ron DeSantis removed Andrew Warren from office and appointed Suzy Lopez to replace him.

Warren, a Democrat who has supported criminal justice reforms, drew a rebuke from the Republican governor for public statements she made on abortion and transgender rights, as well as policies that discouraged the prosecution of certain nonviolent crimes. low level.

López, a Republican, describes herself as “a prosecutor, not a politician.” She emphasizes support for police officers and harsh consequences for criminals.

Here are four things to know about the race before Election Day.

Different approaches

This type of political drama is atypical for a position like state prosecutor. In other states, they are usually called district attorneys. There are 20 state attorneys in Florida, one for each judicial circuit. It’s an office where incumbents tend to run. without opposition. It is also an office that people know little about. unless they have some reason to interact with him, whether as a crime victim, defendant, or witness.

Yet it is a position entrusted with astonishing power: the power to accuse people of crimes, to take away their freedom, to call for a person to be executed.

When Warren was elected in 2016, she brought a new kind of awareness to those powers, drawing public attention to criminal justice reforms. They included things like expanding civil citations for misdemeanors, preventing criminal charges against people whose driver’s licenses are suspended for non-payments, and establishing a conviction review unit to root out wrongful convictions.

Lopez continues a more traditional approach. State court data indicates his office has filed more charges and taken more cases to trial. In its first year there was a 15% increase in the number of juveniles charged as adults, according to data from the Department of Juvenile Justice. Death Penalty Prosecutions Increase to At Least 18 Cases Involving 21 Defendants compared to five pending death penalty cases when Warren left.

Warren’s suspension as a central issue

Burrow has He framed his campaign as a fight for democracy, claiming that DeSantis overturned the will of the Hillsborough County voters who elected him twice.

He has portrayed Lopez as a “puppet” of DeSantis while highlighting favorable legal rulings that found DeSantis violated Warren’s First Amendment rights and the state constitution.

William Levens, a retired Hillsborough circuit judge, is among Warren’s campaign contributors. He said he believes the suspension was a political move by the governor who at the time was preparing a run for president.

“The only reason I support it is simply the wrongness of the governor’s actions in suspending him for political reasons,” Levens said. “It just seemed wildly unfair to me.”

Mike Trentalange, a Tampa attorney who supports Warren, compared the suspension to a “coup.”

“Tell me the difference between that and a totalitarian system,” Trentalange said. “It’s undemocratic and un-American.”

Both candidates have made misleading claims.

Warren has taken credit for a 32% drop in crime during her years in office. He has also repeatedly alleged that crime has increased since López took power. But that is not the case.

Crime statistics available show a steady downward trend since before Warren took office. As for her claim that it has increased in recent years, Warren pointed to data showing law enforcement has made more arrests. But criminal justice experts say this is more of a police measure. behavior and priorities than crime. Crime numbers from Tampa police and Hillsborough sheriff’s officials indicate crime has continued to decline.

Warren recently criticized Lopez for not getting the death penalty in the case of Howell Donaldson III, who shot four people at random in 2017 in Seminole Heights. But the case was complex and the state would have found it difficult to obtain the death penalty. Lopez accepted a deal in which Donaldson pleaded guilty in exchange for four consecutive life sentences.

A recent ad from the López campaign. created a false impression that Warren refused to prosecute rioters in 2020. The ad aired footage of Warren speaking about the decision not to press charges against a specific group of protesters over images of people attacking police, looting businesses and damaging property. Late that summer, his office announced that they had filed more than 200 charges against 120 people related to the riots.

Lopez has also made statements that Warren was removed “because she wasn’t doing her job.” But a judge ruled that all the evidence showed Warren was do your job competently and exercise prosecutorial discretion.

DeSantis insiders and allies like López

Political committees linked to Republican activists, lawmakers and DeSantis allies have pumped large sums of money into Lopez’s campaign. bringing their total fundraising to over $1 million, more than double what Warren has raised.

His other supporters include numerous prominent criminal defense attorneys and retired judges. They usually know it from personal experience.

“She actually appeared in front of me when I was a circuit court judge,” said Emmett Lamar Battles, a former Hillsborough Circuit Judge who donated to Lopez’s campaign. “Frankly, I always found her to be not only a good lawyer, but also very direct. “She was one of those people you could trust when they came to the courtroom.”