After backlash, Andrew Bain says he will help Monique Worrell during transition

Orange-Osceola State Attorney Andrew Bain is backtracking and now says he will help Monique Worrell transition into the office after she won the November election.

Bain originally said he was unwilling to help Worrell get ready for her term, citing Gov. Ron DeSantis’ 2023 executive order that threw her out of the office and led to Bain’s appointment. But that appears to have changed.

“I want to provide clarity that Monique Worrell will take office on January 7, 2025, and that my term will end January 6, 2025.  It is my intention to provide any assistance I can to ensure the office continues to operate smoothly for the benefit of our community during this transition,” Bain said in his update that his Office released to Florida Politics Tuesday. “It is also my expectation that every member of the office will do the same.”

In his first email, Bain claimed he could not help Worrell because he said DeSantis hadn’t rescinded the executive order from Worrell’s previous term and Worrell never requested a Senate hearing to overturn the executive order.

“Without one of these things, I do not feel I can lawfully assist in a transition to an individual whose lawful suspension was affirmed by the Florida Supreme Court,” Bain wrote in his message to employees. “We are living through an unprecedented legal event without clear answers. While I will immediately comply with an order of the Governor rescinding his prior executive order, I do not know if or when that will come.”

But the Orlando Sentinel reported that a Florida constitutional law expert dismissed Bain’s argument and said the suspension ran for Worrell’s old term — not her new one. There was nothing stopping Bain from helping Worrell.

Worrell, a Democrat, defeated Bain, who ran as an independent, with 57% of the vote on Nov. 5.

“That mandate was clear. Elections are the ultimate accountability measure in a democracy. No executive order, no political maneuver, and certainly no personal grievance can override the will of the people,” Worrell said Monday. She called Bain’s original unwillingness to help her “a betrayal of democratic principles, but also a stark reminder of the lengths to which some will go to cling to power.”