Attorney General

The attorney general is often described as the state’s “top cop.” Their job is to protect Floridians from all manners of fraud, to defend the state in civil litigation (i.e. when the state sued over the Deepwater Horizon spill), and to crack down on issues like identity theft and human and drug trafficking. Attorney General Pam Bondi has also aggressively made tackling the opioid crisis part of her platform. The attorney general’s office is also responsible for providing assistance to crime victims.

As the top cop, a candidate’s opinions on issues like civil rights, systemic racism, criminal justice, corruption, and consumer protection are particularly relevant. They have a lot of power to promote a particular political agenda through legal action, as current Attorney General Pam Bondi did by filing a lawsuit against the federal government over the Affordable Care Act in 2015.

You might want to look at where they stand on things like the Stand Your Ground law, using their office to take legal action against companies that damage our environment or abuse consumers, and how hard they seem willing to crack down on corruption. And, because Florida, there will always be more crime, corruption, and general shadiness than there is time to prosecute it all, so you may want to focus on what their priorities are.  

Democrat Sean Shaw and Republican Ashley Moody are running for the seat, which is currently held by Republican Pam Bondi.

Thanks to readers Greg (no last name given), who asked for coverage on how the two candidates differ, and Kelly Robinson, who asked for more information on their prosecutorial philosophy. We’ll cover that in their profiles.