The lawsuit filed this week alleges that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and other GOP officials were involved in a scheme to prevent a former Democratic state attorney, Monique Worrell, from reclaiming her position as the top prosecutor in central Florida. The lawsuit was filed by Thomas Feiter, a Republican candidate who lost to Seth Hyman in the GOP primary for the State Attorney district covering metro Orlando. Hyman recently withdrew from the general election race, leaving DeSantis’ appointee Andrew Bain and Monique Worrell as the remaining candidates.
According to the lawsuit, GOP officials supported Hyman’s candidacy with the knowledge that he would drop out of the race after winning the primary, impacting the election results in favor of keeping Bain in office. The lawsuit accuses the officials of election fraud, violations of Florida’s elections code, and corruptly influencing voting. It seeks to have the GOP primary results deemed invalid due to corruption and misconduct.
Hyman dismissed the lawsuit as “completely frivolous and an abuse of the court system.” The lawsuit also points to DeSantis’ removal of Worrell from office, citing reasons related to her handling of crimes committed by minors and gun crimes in her district. Worrell, on the other hand, argues that her suspension in August 2023 was politically motivated, as it occurred while DeSantis was seeking the GOP presidential nomination. She maintains that she was fulfilling her duties appropriately.
DeSantis had previously removed another Democrat, State Attorney Andrew Warren in Tampa, for reasons related to his stance on criminal charges for certain offenses. Warren had pledged not to pursue charges against seekers or providers of abortion or gender transition treatments, leading to his removal by DeSantis due to policy disagreements.
