ATTORNEY

Black,” he said, voicing the sentiment of the Black victims’ families he’s encountered. “My son is dead. Get justice for me.”

For his part, Pryor says he knew better than to take the general election for granted after winning the primary. Acknowledging the strength of Rossman’s résumé, Pryor counters with the strengths he believes are responsible for his nomination — the capacity to be an agent of change in a political environment that appears to be clamoring for it.

“If you’re passionate about erasing the school-to-prison pipeline, then this is the race for you and I’m the candidate for you,” he said, launching into a litany of law enforcement reforms that have gained political traction in the wake of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May, and referring to himself as the best candidate to institute those reforms.

Like Rossman, Pryor is a former prosecutor, but only for a short time.

Since graduating from law school in 2012, he’s held five jobs, most recently as a civil lawyer in private practice. Rossman cites his opponent’s work history as a liability, a demonstration of Pryor’s lack of professional stability. Pryor cites his history as the result of financial necessity — young prosecutors are notoriously underpaid, and with a wife and son to support, Pryor said he could not afford to remain on the public payroll in 2017.

“I left my comfortable situation where I was doing fine to come back and serve the people of Broward County” by running for public office, he said.

Pryor has indicated that if he is elected, he will ask the current state attorney to continue overseeing the prosecution of Nikolas Cruz in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School mass murder case. Rossman said he wouldn’t need his former boss to play a leading role.

“I would ask Mike to consult with me to get me up to speed on the case,” he said. “Mr. Pryor, quite frankly, would have to keep Mike on because Mr. Pryor couldn’t try the case. I could try the case. And I would try the case.”

The general election is Nov. 3. Pryor and Rossman are the only candidates on the ballot. An independent candidate, Sheila Alu, dropped out of the race and endorsed Pryor after the primary.