“OUR GOVERNMENT IS a government of laws, not a government of men,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared last August, standing at a podium in Tampa with a phalanx of armed officers behind him. “That means that we govern ourselves based on a constitutional system.” The occasion was a triumphant press conference announcing his suspension of Andrew Warren, an elected county prosecutor who, DeSantis alleged, had put himself above the law after the Supreme Court rolled back abortion rights by signing a pledge not to prosecute related cases. That evening, DeSantis appeared on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show to squeeze every ounce of publicity out of the affair. “There’s a lot of line prosecutors in that office that are very happy that this was done,” DeSantis boasted. “We took it seriously, we did a thorough review, and we pulled the trigger today.”
DeSantis, in his telling, had removed a tyrant to benefit the less powerful. But what happened is a stark example of the opposite: an autocratic governor overturning the will of the people to punish his enemies for political gain. It was DeSantis who had placed himself above the law.
A federal judge later found Warren’s ouster to be unconstitutional, and though he declined to reinstate him on a technicality, trial testimony and documents revealed a much different story than the one DeSantis told. Though DeSantis had claimed otherwise, his administration barely reviewed Warren’s record, and it did not bother to consult with Warren’s staff. Instead, evidence suggested that DeSantis sought to capitalize on the right’s obsession with reform-minded prosecutors (who aim to roll back overzealous prosecution and mass incarceration) by making an example of one. He tasked an aide with finding a worthwhile target and that staffer zeroed in on Warren, crafting a removal announcement that mentioned billionaire George Soros, even though he had not funded Warren’s campaigns. If there was any doubt about the real purpose of Warren’s removal, records unearthed in the case showed that the governor’s staff dutifully tallied the value of the free coverage they had generated from this made-for-TV stunt: $2.4 million.
Other Republicans have sought to oust reform prosecutors through recall elections or to strip some of their authority legislatively. But DeSantis escalated those tactics, opting to remove Warren himself—and do so illegally. The episode showcased DeSantis’ disregard for the democratic process, his use of the state to punish political opponents, and his mission to install loyal allies across positions of power. While Donald Trump shares these authoritarian tendencies, DeSantis is much more methodical, though no less ruthless. Trump’s appeal relied on charisma, but DeSantis compensates for his lack of it with staged attacks and appearances that score points with GOP voters.
DeSantis has proven his “willingness to routinely use the machinery of the state to punish rivals,” explains Harvard government professor Steven Levitsky. “That’s authoritarianism at its core. That’s what authoritarians do.”
Warren is continuing to fight being stripped of his office in state and federal court. “This is about far more than my position,” he says. “If the governor can just remove an elected official from office, on a whim, without any legal basis, then it nullifies the meaning of democracy across our state. It means that elections have no meaning.”
the only local elected official DeSantis has targeted. He’s booted school board members, an election supervisor, and a sheriff—all Democrats. DeSantis has turned the power of the state against political opponents, businesses that transgress his orthodoxy, and the education system and universities that serve as liberal bulwarks against illiberal rulers. DeSantis breeds fear of vulnerable groups for political advantage. As part of this politics of reprisal, he is imposing a uniform ideology upon Florida: anti-queer, anti-Black, anti-immigrant, and patriarchal, through laws banning discussion of gender identity, systemic racism, and sexism. The “Free State of Florida,” he likes to say, “is where woke goes to die.” But his rhetoric
