Lawsuit alleges plot to run sham candidate so DeSantis appointee can win election

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other GOP officials were behind a plot to eliminate competition for his appointee and keep a former Democratic state attorney who the Republican governor had removed from office last year from winning back her job as the top prosecutor in central Florida, according to a lawsuit filed this week.

The lawsuit was filed Tuesday by Thomas Feiter, a Republican candidate for the State Attorney district covering metro Orlando who lost in the GOP primary to Seth Hyman.

Hyman earlier this month dropped out of the general election race where he was facing DeSantis appointee Andrew Bain, who is running without party affiliation, and Democrat Monique Worrell, who Bain replaced after DeSantis suspended her in what opponents viewed as a political move.

After withdrawing from the race this month, Hyman endorsed Bain. No Republican was named by the state GOP to take Hyman’s place on the general election ballot for November.

According to the lawsuit, the Republican officials supported Hyman’s sham candidacy knowing he would drop out of the race after winning the primary.

The officials “intended their conspiracy and misconduct to directly affect our election results to achieve their desired outcome, and keep their previously appointed candidate (Andrew Bain) in office,” the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit alleges election fraud, violations of Florida’s elections code and corruptly influencing voting. It is asking that the GOP primary results be declared invalid because of corruption, misconduct and fraud.

Hyman called the lawsuit “completely frivolous and an abuse of the court system” in an email on Friday. A spokesperson for Bain’s campaign did not respond to an email on Friday, and there was no response to an email sent to the governor’s office.

DeSantis claimed Worrell failed to prosecute crimes committed by minors and didn’t seek mandatory minimum sentences for gun crimes, putting the public in danger in her central Florida district.

Worrell said her August 2023 suspension was politically motivated since it took place while DeSantis was running for the GOP presidential nomination. She argued that the state constitution only allows for the suspension of an elected official for egregious misconduct, and that she was simply doing her job as she saw fit.

DeSantis last year also removed State Attorney Andrew Warren, a twice-elected Democrat in Tampa, over Warren’s signing of pledges that he would not pursue criminal charges against seekers or providers of abortion or gender transition treatments. DeSantis also disagreed with his policies on not bringing charges for certain low-level crimes.