Florida - Wednesday August 9, 2023: Florida's Democratic Congressional delegation issued a joint statement Wednesday demanding that the Governor immediately restore Monique Worrell to her position as the elected State Attorney for Orange and Osceola Counties.
Wednesday morning Governor DeSantis issued an Executive Order suspending Worrell for what he said was her "neglect of duty to faithfully prosecute crime in her jurisdiction."
The Congressional delegation called her dismissal politically motivated.
Their statement says:
“This is another partisan, political attack by Florida’s Governor that ignores the will of the people,” said the Members. “State Attorney Monique Worrell was duly elected by the people of Orange and Osceola counties. The Governor does not have the right to dismiss an elected official from office just because she’s not serving his radical, political agenda—that’s not grounds for suspension. We demand the Governor reinstate her immediately.”
Worrell was elected to the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court for the State of Florida in November 2020.
The statement was issued by Orlando-area Representatives Darren Soto (FL-09) and Maxwell Frost (FL-10) were joined by Representatives Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25), Kathy Castor (FL-14), Frederica Wilson (FL-24), Lois Frankel (FL-22), and Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (FL-20).
Worrell told reporters Wednesday that she will fight the dismissal in court.
This is the second State Attorney that the Governor has suspended.
Last year, DeSantis suspended Andrew Warren, a twice-elected, Democratic state attorney in Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa. He cited Warren's decision to join other prosecutors around the country in signing a statement that said they would not pursue criminal charges against seekers or providers of abortion or those that provide gender transition treatments.