A contentious race for Hillsborough State's Attorney is nearing the finish line

There are several facets to the race between ousted State’s Attorney Andrew Warren and Suzy Lopez.

She was appointed to the position by Governor Ron DeSantis after he removed Warren from office two years ago. Democrat Warren said he is still the duly elected chief prosecutor who was the victim of a politically motivated move by the Republican governor.

Warren had previously announced that he would not run again. He said he changed his mind about running for re-election after a federal appeals court ruled that a federal judge could reinstate him to his position. But a federal judge has yet to follow through on that ruling.

Lopez, a former judge, said she is tougher on crime than Warren, who had pledged not to prosecute cases related to the state’s new laws on transgender health care and abortion. Her campaign slogan is “Safer with Suzy,” drawing a sharp distinction between her and Warren. One of her biggest backers is Hillsborough Sheriff Chad Chronister, who has appeared in ads with her.

Candidates for State's Attorneys on stage. — Hillsborough State Attorney Suzy Lopez speaks at a recent Tampa Tiger Bay club meeting. Andrew Warren is on the far right, next to Elizabeth Martinez Strauss, whom he defeated in the Democratic primaries.

During a joint performance at the Tampa Tiger Bay earlier this year, Lopez elaborated on that theme.

“When I became district attorney, my mission was to clean up the mess left by my predecessor. I have rebuilt our relationships with our law enforcement partners. Those relationships were broken at some point. I have given a voice to the victims and their families and I have held perpetrators accountable.”

Warren said he is “still the duly elected prosecutor.”

“Twice this community has believed in my vision of how to build a safer community by aggressively prosecuting the crimes that pose the greatest threats, balancing punishment and accountability with prevention and rehabilitation,” Warren said. “We have had tremendous success working with law enforcement and there was no controversy until the governor’s political stunt threw away your votes, broke the law and endangered our democracy.”

Looming over all of this is one hypothetical: whether DeSantis would suspend Warren again if he wins on Tuesday.

The governor has not commented publicly on that, but recently told the News Service of Florida: “I think that will be fine.”

And some observers have said that if DeSantis suspends him, it will likely be overturned again by the courts. And you could see the governor firing elected officials because he disagrees with them.