Hillsborough County State Attorney candidates clash at heated political forum

Share
From left: Hillsborough County State Attorney Candidates Suzy Lopez (R), Elizabeth Martinez Strauss (D), Andrew Warren (D), Public Defender candidates Lisa Baker McLean (D), Rocky Brancato (D) at Tiger Bay Club // Chris Young 5/17/24

Listen:

Candidates for the Hillsborough County state attorney position faced off in a fiery discussion Friday during a political forum in Ybor City.

Suspended Hillsborough County state attorney, Democrat Andrew Warren, Current state attorney, Republican Suzy Lopez, and Democrat Elizabeth Martinez Strauss faced a large crowd at non-partisan political forum the Tampa Tiger Bay Club.

Governor Ron DeSantis suspended Warren in 2022 over claims that he refused to enforce certain laws. Lopez questioned Warren’s oath as state attorney to protect the constitution.

“In signing a pledge that he would not prosecute certain categories of crime, he may as well just take that oath and quite frankly just wipe a dog’s rear end with it, because that oath is what we are here to do.”

However, Warren criticized Lopez for her allegiance to Governor Ron DeSantis, and because she was not chosen by voters.

“She’s not one to follow the law, but instead she follows the governor. She’s followed the governor on his false talking points about my suspension, she’s followed the governor’s false talking points about the six week abortion ban saying that it doesn’t cover women patients when it clearly does.”

Meanwhile, Strauss had previously said that she would withdraw if Warren decided to run. She didn’t, and explained why at the forum.

“That’s okay that he changed his mind, but I can’t back out of the race just because he changed his mind when he could still be removed within 10 minutes of getting elected.”

In between attacks, candidates discussed topics including gun control and crime in the area.

Leave a Reply

  • (will not be published)

XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

You may also like

student meal
Next school year Hillsborough public schools are offering free meals

Hillsborough Public Schools are offering students free meals for the...

Correspondence Through Poetry. A Mind-Numbing Week.

Father Verses Sons: A Correspondence in Poems by Herbert Gold...

The sound of change: Music’s influence on anti-war and human rights movements

Throughout history, music has served as a powerful catalyst for...

a man in a tye dye shirt talking on a radio microphone
Recreational pot for Florida is on the ballot this fall—let’s talk about it

In four months, Florida voters have the opportunity to vote...

Ways to listen

WMNF is listener-supported. That means we don't advertise like a commercial station, and we're not part of a university.

Ways to support

WMNF volunteers have fun providing a variety of needed services to keep your community radio station alive and kickin'.

Follow us on Instagram

Democracy Now!
Player position: