TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The race to be elected Hillsborough State Attorney is heating up ahead of November. Republican Suzy Lopez is hoping to keep the seat. Democrat Andrew Warren is hoping voters help him return as the county’s top prosecutor.

Warren has been twice elected to the seat but was suspended in 2022. Gov. Ron DeSantis said he neglected his duty when he pledged to avoid prosecuting certain crimes, including those about abortion and transgender care. Lopez was appointed to the seat when Warren was ousted.

“When law enforcement and our state attorney’s office work hand-in-hand together. Crime goes down. That’s just a fact. We support our law enforcement. Of course, we do not rubber stamp everything it is that they do,” Lopez said.

Both candidates discussed their approach to prosecuting crimes during a taping of Battleground Florida that airs Sunday mornings before Meet the Press.

“We will prosecute. We will look at every single case the same way we always do. Murder, rape, robbery, abortion. We always look at the facts and circumstances of each case. That’s what I’ve always done as a federal prosecutor. That’s what I’ve always done as state attorney,” Warren said.

Political Expert Tara Newsom said Election Day will show whose message worked.

“Suzy Lopez has done a great job positioning herself as tough on crime, an advocate of law enforcement, but what Andrew Warren has done is say that I’m a civil rights and civil liberties advocate, I’m compassionate about the law,” Newsom said.

The political expert also believes this race is part of a litmus test for DeSantis.

“If Lopez doesn’t win, if Amendment Number 3 and Bumber 4 do, this could be sort of the end of DeSantis’s rule in Florida,” Newsom said.

Battleground Florida will air the entire unedited interviews Sunday morning at 9:30 a.m. on News Channel 8.