Worrell gets boost from some big names
State attorney candidate has Kamala Harris, John Legend and Aramis Ayala in her corner
Democratic candidate Monique Worrell scored highprofile endorsements this week from U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris and singer John Legend in the race to replace the region’s top prosecutor — and drew a statement of support from current Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala, who had earlier endorsed one of Worrell’s opponents.
Ayala backed her second-incommand, Chief Assistant State Attorney Deborah Barra, when Barra launched her campaign more than a year ago. But in a Facebook post Wednesday, Ayala celebrated Legend endorsing Worrell, saying she was “glad” the singer agreed with her.
“I’m not seeking re-election but one of my closest friends MONIQUE WORRELL is running FOR STATE ATTORNEY,” Ayala wrote. “I love [and] trust her and believe in her platform that she built on her own. With 20 years as an attorney, she’s an experienced criminal law litigator and a professor of law. … Her commitment to reform is second to NONE.”
Barra said Ayala did not tell her if she was officially pulling her endorsement but added she wasn’t surprised by the post because her boss and Worrell are good friends and have known each other a long time.
“I respect her passion and right to support anyone she wants to support,” Barra said. “I appreciate anything that draws attention to this race because we have serious issues to tackle. I’m focused on getting violent people off the street, innocent people out of the jail and achieving real reforms that achieve true justice and equality for all. That’s what I’m focused on.”
Worrell, the former director of Ayala’s Conviction Integrity Unit, left the office in 2019 to work as chief legal officer for Reform Alliance, the national criminal justice reform organization co-founded by Jay-Z and Meek Mill. She entered the race in March.
“Her platform is what is needed to keep the progress in motion,” Ayala responded in the post’s comments. “She’s ready to build and move FORWARD!”
Barra said she and Worrell are both supportive of criminal justice reform but bring different perspectives.
“My approach is more from knowing the system on the inside,” she said. “If you know how it works, you know how it can change, rather than from a complete outsider’s perspective where the changes you make have consequences. I want to make lasting change that happens within the criminal justice system.”
Ayala did not respond to a request for comment.
Harris is the second former presidential candidate to endorse Worrell, following Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
“For far too long, the State Attorney’s office has helped perpetuate the notion that justice is a privilege for the wealthy and that poverty is deserving of criminal punishment,” Worrell said in a statement. “I am running for State Attorney to change the culture of prosecution and disrupt the concentration of power that has held a grip on our criminal legal system.”
The other candidates competing in the Aug. 18 Democratic primary include Belvin Perry Jr., the former Orange-Osceola chief judge who presided over the Casey Anthony murder trial, and Ryan Williams, a prosecutor who left Ayala’s office in 2017 and currently handles death penalty cases reassigned from her office to Ocala-based State Attorney Brad King.
Orlando attorney Jose Torroella is also running in the race as a non-party-affiliated candidate.