TALLAHASSEE - Monique Worrell, an Orlando area state attorney suspended by Gov. Ron DeSantis last year, won back her job in Tuesday's election, but suspended Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren fell short.

Worrell, a Democrat who was elected state attorney in 2020, received support Tuesday from 57%t of voters in the 9th Judicial Circuit, which includes Orange and Osceola counties. Worrell defeated Andrew Bain, a former Orange County judge tapped by DeSantis to replace Worrell after the August 2023 suspension.

DeSantis alleged that Worrell's policies prevented or discouraged assistant state attorneys from seeking minimum mandatory sentences for gun crimes and drug-trafficking offenses. Worrell asked the Florida Supreme Court to reinstate her to the post, but justices in June upheld the governor's action.

Two voters and the group Florida Rising Together also filed a federal lawsuit challenging Worrell's suspension, arguing that "following through on her campaign promises to reform the criminal legal system, Ms. Worrell was doing nothing other than meeting her professional and ethical obligations and exercising her prosecutorial discretion." That lawsuit is pending.

Florida Democrats applauded Worrell's victory Tuesday.