Acting State Attorney Andrew Bain, 39, a one-time Democrat-turned-independent, is running against the former State Attorney Democrat Monique Worrell, 49, to be the Ninth Judicial Circuit's top prosecutor in a race that has been controversial from the start and has had more twists and surprises than a John le Carré spy novel.

The election is Nov. 5. Early voting takes place daily from Oct. 21-Nov. 3, 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Check our list for locations. The deadline to request a mail-in ballot is Oct. 24. Mail-in ballots can be returned to any early voting location but must be received by the Supervisor of Elections office at 119 Kaley Street in Orlando by 7 p.m. on Nov. 5. State Attorneys serve four years and earn $212,562.24 annually. 

Election interference

Bain, a member of the Federalist Society, was appointed acting state attorney in August 2023 after Gov. Ron DeSantis removed Worrell, for what he claimed was "neglect of duty" a move that was widely viewed as political since DeSantis was running for president at the time. (He also removed another state attorney.) Worrell sued DeSantis to get her job back but was denied by the Florida Supreme Court.

Speaking at a Hot Topics panel, hosted by the League of Women Voters of Orange County, Bain described the decision as “completely just.”

“Our Florida Constitution says that if somebody removes you from office as an elected official, you’re supposed to ask the Senate for a trial so you can have out those facts in front of the court, in front of the people so the people can see what’s been going on,” he said.

Meanwhile, allegations of election interference have swirled around the race since before the Aug. 20 Republican primary when attorney Thomas Feiter claimed he had been offered judicial positions or help with future legislative runs to drop out of the race to clear a path for Bain, DeSantis' choice, by people close to the governor. He refused. But after winning the primary, the GOP-endorsed candidate Seth Hyman dropped out of the race, saying he saw no way to win.

Last month, Feiter filed a lawsuit —and held a joint press conference with Worrell — alleging that Bain, Hyman, DeSantis and a group of Republicans colluded to ensure that Bain would run head-to-head with Worrell.

Asked point-blank if he would welcome an investigation into the allegations that there was election interference to help keep him in office, Bain, who suggested the DeSantis-created election police might investigate, dodged the question and said it was a “civil rights issue and not a party politic issue.”

Bain initially agreed to be interviewed by VoxPopuli, but after many attempts to schedule the interview, his office called to say he was unavailable.

From offensive lineman to state attorney

According to his campaign website, Bain grew up in Lauderdale Lakes, outside Fort Lauderdale. He worked at the church where his father was a pastor until he went to the University of Miami in 2003. He was an offensive lineman with the Miami Hurricanes and majored in psychology and business law.

After graduation, he signed as a free agent with the New York Giants in 2008, a stint that lasted about six months, according to his LinkedIn. Afterward, he attended Florida A&M University College of Law and, after graduation, worked as an assistant state attorney for the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court for six years before DeSantis appointed him to be an Orange County Judge in 2020 when Judge Nancy Clark retired. He was re-elected to the bench in 2022.

Tough on crime

Bain’s goals, according to the Ballotpedia Campaign Connection survey, he filled out, include holding violent criminals accountable and protecting the public while “addressing root causes of crime, including the fentanyl epidemic, gun and gang violence.” In the survey, he promoted “responsible gun ownership, improving literacy, fighting poverty, and expanding mental health and substance abuse treatment.”

According to the Orange-Osceola State Attorney’s Office annual report, Bain reinstated the three-year minimum sentence for felons caught with firearms. In addition, in the time he's been on the job, his office has won convictions on 28 of the 31 homicide cases that went to trial; 16 of the 20 sex crimes cases that were tried; and six of the seven cases that came from the newly established Violent Crimes Unit, which focuses on gang and gun crimes.

Other units established under Bain include the Career Criminal Unit which pursues harsher sentences for repeat offenders and the Domestic Violence Unit, spliced off from the Sex Crimes Unit. The office also joined the Fifth Judicial Circuit’s animal cruelty task force to strengthen those types of cases.

Bain's office also updated procedures for examining law enforcement’s use of excessive force. Under the new policy, a grand jury heard its first case, which involved a 2022 shooting by Osceola County Sheriffs Deputies that resulted in one person killed and two others injured. However, no indictments against the deputies were returned. The grand jury did issue a 13-page policy report to the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office with recommendations to change and update policies, some of which were implemented.

Bain told the audience during the League of Women Voters panel there would be "accountability" for law enforcement officers "because they want to do a good job at keeping our community safe." 

Alternative programs

Bain’s office produced workshops to teach de-escalation strategies and to help people expunge nonviolent criminal arrests from their records. The office also initiated jail-alternative programs for nonviolent offenders under the Second Chance Program umbrella, focusing on rehabilitation and education. 

To help prevent kids from getting caught in the criminal justice system, there’s also the Juvenile Civil Citation Program for those accused of minor misdemeanors, which involves community service and life skills classes. The annual report notes that 85 percent of kids in the juvenile justice system are “functionally illiterate,” so the Turning Pages Juvenile Literacy Program addresses reading, writing and spelling among at-risk youth in partnership with the University of Central Florida’s Communication Disorders Clinic, as a way to help “break the school-to-prison pipeline.”