At Tampa’s Tiger Bay, warring state attorney candidates take their shots

Candidates battling to get elected Hillsborough County State Attorney — the suspended one, the appointed one and a third contender in the mix — squared off for the first time publicly at a Tampa Tiger Bay Club forum Friday.

They did not mince words.

Democrat Andrew Warren, the twice-elected state attorney suspended by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2022 after the governor accused him of refusing to follow the law, told the sold-out luncheon crowd he made things safer before he was “illegally” removed.

“After I’m reinstated and reelected, we’ll continue that success,” he said.

Republican Suzy Lopez, a longtime prosecutor, told the audience that when the governor appointed her, it was her mission “to clean up messes left by my predecessor.” Though she and Warren each got applause throughout the event, that particular statement elicited scattered boos from the crowd.

As they answered questions from the audience, the candidates built images of themselves: Lopez as a hard-nosed law-and-order prosecutor favored by law enforcement and Warren as one who pushed for innovative changes in the justice system while being tough on serious crime.

In what was possibly the most memorable quote of the event, Lopez talked about Warren’s oath to uphold the Constitution and the law: “He might as well take that oath and quite frankly wipe a dog’s rear end with it,” she said.

DeSantis suspended Warren over policies against pursuing certain low-level non-violent crimes and because of pledges he signed with other prosecutors nationwide against prosecuting cases involving transgender health care or abortion. Warren called his surprise removal a political stunt by a governor who wanted to be president.

Warren’s battle in the courts to get his job back, including a recent ruling from a federal appeals court that appears to open up a path to his reinstatement, currently looks to be bogged down in court procedure.

The candidates answered standard questions on subjects including human trafficking and kids with guns, but inevitably seemed to turn back to the unusual and acrimonious circumstances of their race — such as Warren’s response to a question about prosecuting student protesters.

“So, I’m a strong supporter of First Amendment rights,” he said. “In fact, I was suspended for exercising mine.”

Also part of Friday’s event was Elizabeth Martinez Strauss, a Democrat who will face Warren in the primary. Strauss, a former prosecutor and assistant public defender, has said she likes Warren, that he was wronged by the governor and that she hopes he gets his job back. But to the pointed question Friday about why she’s in the race, she said DeSantis could simply remove Warren again if he wins, something Warren himself has said.

“I care about this community too much to have this cloud of uncertainty hanging over us,” she said. “That’s why I decided to run.”

Strauss said she thinks Lopez really wants to be a judge — the job she had when DeSantis tapped her for state attorney — and Warren would make a good governor.

“I think we should end the drama and vote Strauss,” she said.

Strauss is part of a well-known legal family: Her father is prominent attorney Victor Martinez and her mother is Rosalie Bolin, a former public defender’s office employee who made national headlines when she married since-executed serial killer Oscar Ray Bolin.

Though the state attorney candidates were the marquee draw Friday, it was for many also a first taste of the race to replace retiring longtime Hillsborough Public Defender Julianne Holt, whose office represents people in criminal court who can’t afford to hire lawyers. It’s the first time in decades Hillsborough voters will elect a new public defender.

Holt has endorsed Rocky Brancato, her chief operations officer, who called their office “cutting edge” Friday and said there’s no reason to change things.

He faces a challenge from longtime Tampa criminal defense attorney Lisa McLean, who said it’s time for the public defender’s office to try new innovations — “not looking backward but looking forward,” she said.

About 250 people attended the forum at Hotel Haya in Tampa’s Ybor City.