TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Andrew Warren, the suspended Florida State Attorney, is moving his battle to get his job back to multiple fronts. Monday, Warren filed an appeal to a higher federal court to fight for reinstatement.
Warren, a Democrat elected to serve as the 13th Judicial Circuit’s State Attorney twice, is asking the Florida Supreme Court to reinstate him to office, citing a federal judge’s commentary that Gov. Ron DeSantis had broken state law with the action.
According to a statement from Warren’s spokesman, his appeal to the Florida justices will be based on the same details which came to light in the previous federal case. At the time, Warren’s statement said he had “won on the merits” but could not be reinstated by the judge due to jurisdictional issues.
Now, the embattled suspended official is opening a separate effort in the state’s highest court, saying that “through the illegal suspension, the Governor usurped the will of the people to elect their chosen official.”
Going further, Warren said, “After a thorough review of the facts and the law, a federal court found that the Governor broke both Florida and U.S. laws and illegally suspended me. We’re asking the Florida Supreme Court to affirm that finding and instruct the Governor to follow the law and reinstate me to office. We’re asking them to reiterate that no one is above the law—not even the Governor.”
It’s unclear at this stage if Warren will be successful in either of his recent filings to win reinstatement. However, should the appeal to the Florida Supreme Court fail, the issue would be turned back to the Florida Senate, where a review process was put on hold amid the multiple legal battles initiated by Warren.
In that vein, his effort there may also face an uphill battle with a Republican supermajority, and strong cooperation on a variety of matters between the legislature and the governor.
