Suspended prosecutor Andrew Warren closer to running for his former job in Hillsborough

Ousted Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren has opened a campaign account for his former job, following his suspension last year.

Warren filed campaign finance documents on Monday with the Florida Division of Elections website in the category of 2024 state attorney candidates. Warren, a Democrat, has filed in the 13th judicial circuit, which encompasses all of Hillsborough County.

“This allows him to stay in legal compliance with state law and keep multiple options on the table as he determines his next steps,” said Maya Brown, a Hillsborough County Democratic political strategist in a statement issued by Warren’s communications spokesman.

However, Brown cautioned that there is no announcement at this point about Warren actually running for his old state attorney position, or any other political office. “We have nothing to announce at this point; once Andrew arrives at a decision, we will definitely let everyone know,” she said.

Warren was a twice elected state attorney in Hillsborough County when he was removed from office 14 months ago by Gov. Ron DeSantis. The governor appointed Suzy Lopez to replace him. And she has filed to run for reelection.

Warren was suspended for alleged ‘neglect of duty” and “incompetence” arising from his signing of a pledge not to prosecute alleged crimes arising from provision of abortion or transgender care.

Warren has challenged the suspension in the courts, including a federal ruling showing DeSantis had violated both the federal and state constitutions when he suspended Warren, but the judge lacked the authority to reinstate Warren.

In August of this year, DeSantis suspended Orange/Osceola County State Attorney Monique Worrell for allegedly “neglecting her duty to faithfully prosecute crimes in her jurisdiction,” marking the second time he had unilaterally ousted a democratically elected Democratic state attorney.

Speaking last month in Tampa, Warren said it’s been difficult for him and his family to be considered an “enemy of the state.”

“To have the job that you were elected stripped from [you],” he said. “To have the government search for any hint of misconduct in your record, even though a court found there is none. To have the governor lie repeatedly about you in his stump speeches and to have his propaganda machine repeat those lies, to the point where threats have been made against my life.”