Suzy Lopez to remain Hillsborough County State Attorney

TAMPA, Fla. - Hillsborough County State Attorney Suzy Lopez will keep her job after defeating Andrew Warren on Election Day .

Lopez was appointed to the position in August 2022 by Governor DeSantis after he suspended Warren for violating his oath of office and being soft on crime.

Lopez is a Tampa native and Hillsborough County's first female state attorney.

Before she was a county judge, Lopez was a prosecutor at the state attorney's office for 17 years and handled some of the biggest cases.

Shortly after taking the job, she set a new tone for the office. She sent a memo to her team announcing plans to roll back certain policies Warren had in place. Lopez stated, 'It's time to get back to basics."

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Over the past two years, Lopez has appeared at many press conferences alongside law enforcement leaders vowing to hold suspects accountable for their actions.

She put the death penalty on the table for those accused of heinous crimes and touts the sentences imposed on convicted criminals on her social media.

Lopez says she has implemented strategies and policies to prevent gun violence with a focus on career offenders.

In August 2024, Lopez announced stark crime decreases, stating that crime in Hillsborough County has gone down 15%, sexual battery is down 46% and robbery is down 27% this year alone.

In Tampa, Lopez said that there has been a 10% reduction in overall crime and violent crime with a firearm is down 11%.

Lopez says she meets with all murder victim's families to ensure they have the agency's full support throughout the entire legal process.