ORLANDO, Fla. – Grammy-Award winning singer and songwriter John Legend is paying attention to Florida politics, specifically several upcoming elections for local state attorney seats.
On Wednesday, Legend tweeted his endorsement for Monique Worrell, a democrat running for Ninth Judicial Circuit State Attorney, the top prosecutor over seeing Orange and Osceola counties.
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The current Orlando-area state attorney Aramis Ayala said last year she would not be seeking re-election. Worrell, former chief judge of the Ninth Judicial Circuit Belvin Perry; current assistant state attorney in Orange-Osceola Deborah Barra and Ryan Williams, a longtime assistant state attorney in Florida’s 9th and 5th Judicial Circuits, have all announced they are running.
Worrell, a criminal justice attorney, faces the three other candidates in the Aug. 18 Democratic primary.
“Monique Worrell (D) is running for State Attorney in FL’s 9th Circuit in Orlando because she believes that the criminal legal system harms victims, tears families apart, and fails to make our communities safer,” Legend wrote in a tweet Wednesday.
Legend said he is paying close attention to five states attorney races in August, including elections in Broward County, and outside the Florida in Arizona and Maine.
“District Attorney elections are crucial to changing our criminal justice system. August is a big month for D.A. races in AZ, FL, and MI. I’m closely following the upcoming elections on August 4th and 18th, and there are 5 candidates I am paying close attention to,” Legend said.
According to Worrell’s platform, she is an advocate of criminal justice reform and ending mass incarceration.
Worrell earned her law degree from the University of Florida and started out as a public defender in Central Florida and later started a private practice and taught at UF. She founded the Conviction Integrity Unit at the Orange-Osceola State Attorney’s Office, leading investigations into claims of wrongful conviction.
Most recently Worrell served as chief legal officer at the criminal justice reform nonprofit REFORM Alliance.
The award-winning singer’s endorsement follows earlier endorsements for Worrell from Florida State Rep. Anna Eskamani (D- Orlando) and former presidential candidate and Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vermont).
She also received the endorsement from the Real Justice political action committee. The goal of the political group is to “elect prosecutors who will fix our broken criminal justice system,” according to its website.
The deadline to register to vote in the Florida primary is July 20 and Oct. 5 for the general election.
Monique Worrell (D) is running for State Attorney in FL’s 9th Circuit in Orlando because she believes that the criminal legal system harms victims, tears families apart, and fails to make our communities safer. Vote for @MoniqueHWorrell by 8/18: https://t.co/TUOxCDiOYR
— John Legend (@johnlegend) July 8, 2020