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State attorney election in Hillsborough County, Florida (2024)
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| 2024 Hillsborough County elections |
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| Election dates |
| Filing deadline: April 26, 2024 & June 14, 2024 |
| Primary election: August 20, 2024 General election: November 5, 2024 |
| Election stats |
| Offices up: Property appraiser, public defender, sheriff, state attorney, supervisor of elections, tax collector, county commission, soil & water conservation district, clerk of circuit court, circuit court judges, and county court judges |
| Election type: Partisan and nonpartisan |
| Other municipal elections |
| U.S. municipal elections, 2024 |
Incumbent Suzy Lopez (R) defeated Andrew Warren (D) in the general election for Hillsborough County State Attorney in Florida on November 5, 2024.
The election took place after Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) removed Warren from office in August 2022 and appointed Lopez in his place. DeSantis suspended Warren after Warren signed a pledge not to prosecute cases related to abortion or gender transitions. In January 2023, a U.S. district court judge ruled that Warren's action was protected under the First Amendment but that the court did not have the power to reinstate him. A three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit found in January 2024 that the court did have the power to reinstate Warren and remanded the case to the trial court to determine whether DeSantis had violated Warren's rights.[1] The trial court did not issue a ruling before the election.
Before her appointment as state attorney, Lopez served as a judge and a prosecutor. Lopez said her record included bringing crime rates down and making the county safer. She said she had focused on "Driving crime to historic lows, protecting victims not criminals, and taking the fight to drug dealers who target kids."[2] Lopez said she would focus "on finding justice and making certain those guilty of committing crimes serve their time," saying Warren had spent too much of his time in office pursuing political objectives.[3]
Warren was first elected state attorney in 2016 and re-elected in 2020. Warren said he had reduced crime rates by 30% while in office, while Lopez "was handpicked based on one qualification - her blind allegiance to Ron DeSantis."[4] Warren said he would "continue to fight for the freedom of all Floridians to exercise their First Amendment rights, to protect our democracy by ensuring that voters decide who serves in elected office, and to uphold the rule of law by making sure that no one—not even the governor—is above the law."[5]
In an interview with the Florida Phoenix before the election, political analyst Barry Edwards said the county had shifted politically since Warren's 2020 win, referencing changes in party registration as well as the results of the 2022 elections. Edwards wrote, "We’ve seen the performance of the county in 2022 — all the countywide and statewide Democrat candidates got wiped out...the county has changed to a red-performing county."[6]
The Florida Thirteenth Circuit state attorney is the chief prosecutor for Florida's Thirteenth Judicial Circuit, which includes Hillsborough County and its incorporated cities — including Tampa. As of the 2024 election, the incumbent oversaw "132 Assistant State Attorneys and 160 victim advocates, investigators, administrators, paralegals, receptionists, and other support staff" with responsibility for prosecution and crime prevention programs.[7]
A state attorney is an official elected to serve as the lead prosecutor for a specific jurisdiction. The office's responsibilities include managing the jurisdiction's prosecutors, setting department-wide guidelines for prosecutors to follow, and direct management of individual high-profile prosecutions. Prosecutors are responsible for deciding whether or not to bring criminal charges when wrongdoing is alleged, as well as for proving the charges in court, if necessary, and for recommending a sentence in the event a defendant is found guilty. This office is equivalent to the positions of district attorney, state's/commonwealth's attorney, county/city attorney, solicitor, circuit attorney, or prosecuting attorney found in other jurisdictions.
Hillsborough County also held elections for property appraiser, public defender, sheriff, supervisor of elections, tax collector, county commission, soil & water conservation district, clerk of circuit court, circuit court judges, and county court judges. Click here for more on those elections. Click here for more on the Democratic primary.
Candidates and election results
General election
General election for Florida Thirteenth Judicial Circuit State Attorney
Incumbent Suzy Lopez defeated Andrew Warren in the general election for Florida Thirteenth Judicial Circuit State Attorney on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Suzy Lopez (R) | 52.7 | 344,065 |
 | Andrew Warren (D) | 47.3 | 309,313 | |
| Total votes: 653,378 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Voting information
What was the voter registration deadline?
- By mail: Received by October 7, 2024.
- Online: October 7, 2024.[8]
What was the absentee/mail-in ballot request deadline?
- In-person: October 24, 2024.
- By mail: Received by October 24, 2024.
- Telephone: October 24, 2024.
- Online: October 24, 2024.[9]
What was the absentee/mail-in ballot return deadline?
- In-person: 7:00PM on November 5, 2024.
- By mail: Received by 7:00PM November 5, 2024.[9]
Was early voting available to all voters?
Yes.[10]
What were the early voting start and end dates?
Early voting started on October 21, 2024, and ended on November 3, 2024.[11]
Were all voters required to present ID at the polls? If so, was a photo or non-photo ID required?
All voters were required to present either a photo ID containing the voter's signature or two forms of ID—one with a photo and a second with a signature—before voting.[12]
When were polls open on Election Day?
Polls opened at 7:00 AM on Election Day and closed at 7:00PM on Election Day.
Candidate comparison
Candidate profiles
This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.
Party: Republican Party
Incumbent: Yes
Political Office:
- Florida Thirteenth Judicial Circuit State Attorney (Assumed office: 2022)
Biography: Lopez obtained a bachelor's degree from Middlebury College and a law degree from Suffolk University. Before her appointment as state attorney, Lopez served as a prosecutor and as a judge on the Hillsborough County Court.
Show sources
This information was current as of the candidate's run for Florida Thirteenth Judicial Circuit State Attorney in 2024.
Party: Democratic Party
Incumbent: No
Political Office:
Biography: Warren obtained a bachelor's degree in economics and political science from Brandeis University and a law degree from Columbia University. Before running for elected office, Warren worked as a prosecutor in state and federal government.
Show sources
This information was current as of the candidate's run for Florida Thirteenth Judicial Circuit State Attorney in 2024.
Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses
Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
No candidate in this race completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign ads
This section includes a selection of up to three campaign advertisements per candidate released in this race, as well as links to candidates' YouTube, Vimeo, and/or Facebook video pages. If you are aware of other links that should be included, please email us.
Suzy Lopez
View more ads here:
Andrew Warren
| April 16, 2024 |
View more ads here:
Election competitiveness
Polls
- See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls
We provide results for polls that are included in polling aggregation from FiveThirtyEight and RealClearPolitics, when available. No polls were available for this election. To notify us of polls published in this election, please email us.
Endorsements
Click the links below to see official endorsement lists published on candidate campaign websites for any candidates that make that information available. If you are aware of a website that should be included, please email us.
Election spending
Campaign finance
Candidates in this election submitted campaign finance reports to the Florida Division of Elections. Click here to access those reports.
Satellite spending
- See also: Satellite spending
Satellite spending describes political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns; that is, any political expenditures made by groups or individuals that are not directly affiliated with a candidate. This includes spending by political party committees, super PACs, trade associations, and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.[13][14][15]
If available, this section includes links to online resources tracking satellite spending in this election. To notify us of a resource to add, email us.
Election context
Ballot access requirements
The table below details filing requirements for state attorney candidates in Hillsborough County in the 2024 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Florida, click here.
| Filing requirements for Florida Thirteenth Judicial Circuit State Attorney candidates, 2024 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Partisan affiliation | Signatures required | Filing fee | Filing deadline | Source | ||
| Party-affiliated | N/A | $12,753.72 | 04/26/2024 | Source | ||
| Non-party-affiliated | N/A | $8,502.48 | 04/26/2024 | Source | ||
Florida Thirteenth Judicial Circuit State Attorney election history
2020
See also: Municipal elections in Hillsborough County, Florida (2020)
General election
General election for Florida Thirteenth Judicial Circuit State Attorney
Incumbent Andrew Warren defeated Mike Perotti in the general election for Florida Thirteenth Judicial Circuit State Attorney on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Andrew Warren (D) | 53.4 | 369,129 |
| Mike Perotti (R) | 46.6 | 322,506 | ||
| Total votes: 691,635 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Andrew Warren advanced from the Democratic primary for Florida Thirteenth Judicial Circuit State Attorney.
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Mike Perotti advanced from the Republican primary for Florida Thirteenth Judicial Circuit State Attorney.
2016
Andrew Warren (D) defeated incumbent Mark Ober (R) in the general election for Florida Thirteenth Judicial Circuit state attorney on November 8, 2016.
| Florida Thirteenth Judicial Circuit state attorney, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Andrew Warren |
50.4% | 288,883 | |
| Republican | Mark Ober Incumbent | 49.6% | 283,843 | |
| Total Votes | 572,726 | |||
| Election results via Florida Election Night Reporting, "Summary Results: 2016 General Election," June 5, 2019 | ||||
2012
No election was held for Florida Thirteenth Judicial Circuit state attorney in 2012 because no candidates filed to challenge incumbent Mark Ober (R).[16][17]
2024 battleground elections
- See also: Battlegrounds
This was a battleground election. Other 2024 battleground elections included:
- Kentucky Supreme Court elections, 2024
- New York's 22nd Congressional District election, 2024
- Pinellas County Schools, Florida, elections (2024)
See also
| Hillsborough County, Florida | Florida | Municipal government | Other local coverage |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ WUSF, "Suspended Hillsborough state attorney Andrew Warren's case is headed back to trial," January 10, 2024
- ↑ Facebook, "Vote Suzy Lopez on October 3, 2024," accessed October 10, 2024
- ↑ Suzy Lopez 2024 campaign website, "Meet Suzy," accessed October 10, 2024
- ↑ YouTube, "2024 Campaign Announcement | Andrew Warren," April 16, 2024
- ↑ Andrew Warren 2024 campaign website, "Why I'm Running," accessed October 10, 2024
- ↑ Florida Phoenix, "Andrew Warren says Hillsborough State Atty. Suzy Lopez is ‘pretending to be there legitimately’," April 19, 2024
- ↑ Office of the State Attorney, "About the Office," accessed June 28, 2024
- ↑ Florida Online Voter Registration System, "Home page," accessed October 10, 2024
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections, "Vote by Mail," accessed October 10, 2024
- ↑ Florida Department of State, "Early Voting and Secure Ballot Intake Stations," February 29, 2024
- ↑ Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections, "Early Voting," accessed October 10, 2024
- ↑ Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections, "Election Day Voting," accessed October 10, 2024
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Outside Spending," accessed December 12, 2021
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Total Outside Spending by Election Cycle, All Groups," accessed December 12, 2021
- ↑ National Review.com, "Why the Media Hate Super PACs," December 12, 2021
- ↑ Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections, "Official Results: 2012 General Election," November 16, 2012
- ↑ Tampa Bay Times, "Former federal prosecutor Andrew Warren will run for Hillsborough state attorney as a Democrat," January 4, 2016
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