GOP won’t pick new Orange-Osceola state attorney candidate after nominee bolts

The Republican Party won’t choose a new candidate for the Orange-Osceola state attorney race even though its nominee has quit the race, a decision that leaves voters with a single alternative to progressive Democrat Monique Worrell.

GOP nominee Seth Hyman’s unusual move to withdraw Wednesday, just two weeks after his decisive primary victory, leaves election officials plenty of time to prepare ballots without a Republican contender.

Instead, voters will decide between Worrell, who was suspended from office by Gov. Ron DeSantis last year, and no-party-affiliated incumbent Andrew Bain, whom DeSantis tapped as her replacement.

The new situation in the race offers a boost to Bain, as early polls had suggested he and Hyman would split the conservative-leaning vote in November if both were running. And it drew suggestions Thursday that Bain’s backers had manipulated the outcome.

Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd was notified of the Republican State Executive Committee’s unanimous decision, involving members of the county parties, in a letter sent Wednesday by state GOP chair Evan Power, the day Hyman announced he was dropping out. The Orlando Sentinel obtained the letter Thursday.

Hyman defeated fellow defense attorney Thomas Feiter in a landslide primary election victory. But Hyman cited a meager campaign war chest and the prospect of a Worrell victory as reasons for his withdrawal — drawing ire from some supporters but the backing of state and local Republican officials.

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“Seth Hyman was a tremendous and hardworking candidate,” Power told a Sentinel reporter by text message. “That said, I understand the political and financial challenges he was facing going to a general election with two other candidates.”

According to Florida law, the withdrawal of a candidate for state attorney is treated like other multicounty offices such as congressional and legislative seats. The party executive committees of each county in the district have five days after a vacancy to choose a replacement candidate. For this decision, Orange and Osceola committee members were convened by Power, according to the letter.

Orange County GOP chair Erin Huntley referred comment to the elections office.

News of Hyman leaving the race didn’t sit well with Feiter, who before the election signaled he was under pressure to drop out by high-level authorities within the GOP — including those close to DeSantis.

In an interview Thursday with the Sentinel, he said there’s a small group of powerful party members who “exert power over all of us,” including in the state attorney race. Weeks before the election, he filed a complaint with the Florida Bar accusing DeSantis and others of manipulating the election to favor Bain.

The Bar rejected the complaint July 23, saying the allegations “involve a civil dispute and present questions of law” rather than conduct as attorneys the Bar typically regulates.

Feiter’s public statement called Hyman’s withdrawal and the GOP decision not to replace him “deeply offensive to anyone regardless of affiliation who believes that voters should be given truthful information — not only about a candidate’s positions, but about who is backing the candidate and why.”

“By withdrawing today, Seth Hyman has confirmed that he was part of an effort to manipulate the voters of  Orange and Osceola County,” the statement said. ” … I will be consulting with election law experts to determine if I have a basis for filing a lawsuit in light of today’s events — and requesting that appropriate law enforcement officials investigate any possible criminal activity.”

Feiter also called Hyman a “ghost candidate,” an accusation he denies.

This year’s state attorney race will be a referendum on Worrell’s time in office and her fateful suspension by DeSantis, who accused her of neglecting her duty. Worrell has repeatedly pushed back on claims she was soft on crime during tenure and the Sentinel has reported on some of the dubious claims used to back her suspension.