One-on-one with State Attorney candidate Monique Worrell following primary win

Worrell wins primary race for Orange-Osceola State Attorney

The race for Orange-Osceola State Attorney was hotly contested with Monique Worrell taking the Democratic primary to replace outgoing Aramis Ayala.

ORANGE COUNTY, FL - Monique Worrell will likely become the next top prosecutor for Orange and Osceola counties.

“I am so thankful that the community embraces the movement of criminal justice reform and sees its importance and recognizes that I am the only person who has the experience and the background to actually bring that to fruition,” said Monique Worrell, Candidate for State Attorney, Florida Ninth Judicial Circuit.

Worrell won Tuesday’s Democratic primary for the Ninth Circuit State Attorney, a seat being vacated by Aramis Ayala. The former Assistant State Attorney has been running on a promise of reform.

“Our system of mass incarceration, is largely due to the culture of prosecution, so if I can begin to re-train prosecutors to focus more on benefitting the community and less on incarceration, we could begin to change the culture in a way that will build a stronger, safer community,” said Worrell.

Worrell believes her history of fighting for change is what secured the victory.

“Although there were many things that my opponents said they agree with, I was the only one who spent my entire career actively fighting against those things,” said Worrell.

Her campaign is receiving lots of criticism after a last-minute flood of cash -- $1.5 million from a political action committee backed by Democratic billionaire George Soros.

“Organizations -- and there were many of them who came in support of me -- just allowed me to disseminate my message to the voters, it was the voters who decided that they were aligned with my message,” said Worrell.

On Wednesday, Worrell thanked voters for their support.

“Casting your vote to make a difference, and I am just so thankful that they did, because all too often people are emotional, around situations that are upsetting to us and then we go back to our normal lives and forget that those things ever took place,” said Worrell.

Worrell faces non-party-affiliated criminal defense attorney Jose Torroella in November.