Herald recommends: For Florida Attorney General, ‘Grim Reaper’ lawyer is the best choice in Democratic primary | Editorial

We have seen what a crucial role the state’s top cop — Florida’s attorney general — can play in politics. And with such an autocratic governor, Florida needs an AG who will remain independent and follow the law, not the whims of a governor.

Three impressive Democrats are vying to challenge incumbent Attorney General Ashley Moody in November. Moody has no Republican primary challenger.

The Miami Herald Editorial Board interviewed the three Democrats:

▪ Aramis Ayala, a former assistant public defender and state attorney for the Orange-Osceola circuit in Orlando. She made news during Gov. Rick Scott’s administration when she refused to recommend the death penalty in cases that came to her office. In 2017, the Florida Supreme Court upheld Scott’s authority to remove Ayala from first-degree murder cases, against her will..

▪ Jim Lewis, a former Republican who has run for public office several times, most recently for Broward State Attorney in 2020. He is a former Broward prosecutor who also worked for Attorney General Bob Butterworth, who served in the post from 1987 to 2002. Lewis is now a respected private defense attorney in Fort Lauderdale.

▪ Daniel Uhlfelder, an attorney from Santa Rosa Beach in the Panhandle, made a name for himself as a DeSantis irritant during the pandemic, showing up at events dressed like the Grim Reaper and challenging DeSantis over his opposition to vaccines and mask mandates. The Stanford graduate has expanded that protest to a run for public office.

All three candidates are well-versed on various reasons to defeat Moody and, in the process, defend Floridians’ constitutional rights, which the three say, rightly, are being threatened.

All seek reform, but Lewis emphasizes he is the more “to the center” candidate.

Ayala advocates a need for judicial reform to prevent the miscarriages of justice in Florida, which has one of the highest number of the wrongly convicted.

“I am running because it’s important that the 22 million people of Florida are represented. . . . I want to be the people’s attorney,” Ayala told the Board.

Uhlfelder said he’s running because Moody is not serving the people of Florida. Her denial of Biden’s 2020 election win is evidence, he told the Board.

“In December of 2020, Moody signed on to a brief to challenge Biden’s valid presidential election. I believe that, in and of itself, disqualifies her further being attorney general,” Uhlfelder said.

Lewis says keeping Floridians safe is his top priority. “We must work for better policing, not to defund departments,” Lewis said. “This is a battle of good vs. evil.”

Lewis landed a jab against Ayala for her refusal to abide by the state’s death-penalty laws.

“We, as attorney general, can’t say we’re not going to follow the law because we don’t like it,” Lewis told the Board. Uhlfelder also opposed her stance.

Ayala is spirited, passionate and, indeed, knows the law. But the Board agrees with Lewis and Uhlfelder. Ayala should not have issued a blanket refusal to follow state law. Still, her reasons are admirable, based on the state’s history of judicial malpractice against Blacks and other minorities.

We like Uhlfelder’s promise to divorce the office from partisan politics.

This week, DeSantis suspended Tampa’s elected state attorney, Andrew Warren, over his promise not to enforce the state’s 15-week abortion ban and support for gender transition treatments for minors. Moody is taking aim at abortion rights protected by the privacy provision in Florida’s Constitution.

In short, the attorney general is not the governor’s private attorney. Just like the previous attorneys general, Uhlfelder says he will focus on protecting consumers, the civil rights of Floridians and protecting the environment and taking to task big corporations and giant monopolies like FPL, he told the Board.

“We need to protect the consumer. FPL has a monopoly and is controlling the state. On Day One, I’m launching an investigation into FPL practices, the high cost of homeowners insurance and our high rents,” Uhlfelder said.

For his zeal to return the post of attorney general to its proper role, the Miami Herald recommends DANIEL UHLFELDER in the Democratic primary for Florida attorney general.

This story was originally published August 10, 2022 at 12:00 AM.