Jacob Ogles
Suspended State Attorney Monique Worrell has seen substantial donor support as she runs to take back her elected office.
But while the Orlando Democrat has raised nearly $235,000 for the race, her political rivals signaled that they could match her spending with self-financed campaigns.
As of June 28, Worrell reported nearly $109,000 in cash on hand in her official campaign account. The Orlando Democrat has raised nearly $235,000, most of it since Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended her in August 2023. She spent more than $126,000 already. That puts her expenditures alone ahead of what all her political opponents raised combined in terms of outside dollars.
Appointed State Attorney Andrew Bain, who is seeking election without party affiliation, has raised almost $41,000 in donations and spent almost $32,000 of that.
But he has already put a $100,000 loan out of pocket into the campaign. If he’s willing to spend it, that leaves him with $109,000 in cash as well. Looking down to the cent, he has $87.54 more in the bank than Worrell.
Meanwhile, there’s also an increasingly tense Republican Primary underway as well in Florida’s 9th Judicial Circuit.
There, former Assistant State Attorney Seth Hyman has raised almost $50,000 on top of a $25,000 candidate loan. But subtract expenses and he closed June with less than $900 in the bank.
Lawyer Thomas Feiter, meanwhile, has raised under $5,200 for the race and added $150,000 out of pocket into the race. So far, he has spent less than $15,000, and closed the reporting period with nearly $141,000 in the bank, more than any candidate in the contest.
Hyman has the endorsement of both the Orange County and Osceola County Republican Executive Committees.
At the same time, there have been rumors that Republicans want any Republican nominee to drop out and endorse Bain, DeSantis’ choice to lead the office.
DeSantis notably has signaled his newly formed Florida Freedom Fund will finance opposition to Worrell and to suspended State Attorney Andrew Warren, another Democratic State Attorney who DeSantis booted from office.
Erin Huntley, Chair of the Orange GOP, said the party prefers Hyman in the Republican Primary but hasn’t made a decision about the November election.
The GOP Primary will be held on Aug. 20. Worrell faces no Primary, so she heads to November as the Democratic nominee. As an independent candidate, Bain automatically will appear on the General Election ballot.
Worrell’s campaign recently released an internal poll showing her with an 11-percentage-point lead over Bain in a head-to-head race, though she still sits under 50%.
