Palm Beach GOP drops charged clerk Mike Caruso from voter guide after backing him

Mixed · 2Mike Caruso, the suspended Palm Beach County clerk of courts and comptroller, was arrested on 18 August by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and has pleaded not guilty to charges including lewd or lascivious molestation, kidnapping and child abuse. 1 2 Left · 1The case centres on allegations by a male relative who was under 5 at the time; at an August hearing prosecutors disclosed that a woman separately alleges Caruso molested her when she was 4. 1 Left · 1An Orange County judge released him on $160,000 bail, saying the state's case had weaknesses, though prosecutors objected. 1

Mixed · 2Gov. Ron DeSantis, who had appointed Caruso a year earlier, suspended him immediately after the arrest; an interim clerk, Shannon Ramsey-Chessman, is serving. 3 2 Left · 1On Monday 5 October, the Palm Beach County Republican Party listed Caruso in a voter guide posted on Instagram, and county chairman Carl Cascio told the Miami Herald the committee 'has the power and duty' under state law and party rules to campaign for its nominees. 3 1 Left · 1Cascio's public letter noted that Caruso is the county's only Republican constitutional officer and is fighting to clear his name, and said the state party had directed the county to find a replacement candidate, with the elections supervisor delaying ballot printing, but Caruso refused to withdraw. 1

Centre · 1The Republican Party of Florida had said it would not support Caruso if he stayed in the race; its chairman Evan Power said the party had withdrawn support at the arrest, asked the county to name a replacement, and renewed his call for Caruso to withdraw. 2 Centre · 1On Tuesday 6 October the county party removed Caruso from the guide, reposted on Instagram and X, saying the original had included every Republican nominee and that 'As soon as we were permitted to remove the nominee running for a constitutional office, we did.' 2 Centre · 1The change followed criticism from prominent Florida Republicans: DeSantis called the inclusion 'disappointing', writing that 'some things are bigger than party', and Power said he appreciated the county party 'doing the right thing'. 2

Centre · 1Caruso, through spokesperson Jude Engelmeyer, said the county party is entitled to make its own decisions on its guide, but that he maintains his innocence, remains the Republican nominee and intends to stay in the race and take office if elected. 2 Centre · 1Removing him from the guide does not change his status as nominee: under Section 100.111 of Florida law a county executive committee can designate a replacement only if a vacancy arises, for example by withdrawal, and that has not happened; the county committee had picked Tom Sutterfield as a potential replacement on 25 August. 2 Left · 1Caruso faces Democrat Yvette Drucker, a Boca Raton city council member, in a county that leans Democratic, in the 3 November election; his campaign website is down and he has refunded two donors and a data vendor, though he kept paying his son for outreach. If he won, DeSantis or the next governor could suspend him again. 1 3