Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other Republican leaders at the local and state levels condemned the Palm Beach County GOP for listing Mike Caruso in its voter guide.

“We serve our party best by putting our citizens, state and country first. Disappointing to see this endorsement. Some things are bigger than party,” DeSantis commented.

Miami Herald shared further:

Top Florida Republicans condemned the party’s Palm Beach chapter after the Miami Herald reported Monday that it continued to endorse Mike Caruso for the county clerk’s post even after his arrest on allegations that he molested a small child.

The detractors ranged from U.S. Sen. Rick Scott to Gov. Ron DeSantis. DeSantis had appointed Caruso to the clerk’s position last year but had suspended him immediately after Florida Department of Law Enforcement officers arrested Caruso on Aug. 18. Caruso is out of jail on $160,000 bail.

“This is disgusting,” Scott wrote in a post on X (formerly, Twitter) calling for Caruso to withdraw. “The people of Palm Beach deserve better.”

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Evan Power, the chair of the Florida Republican Party, posted on X that his party had consistently called for Caruso to withdraw from the race. Caruso did not withdraw.

The Palm Beach Party chapter had included Caruso in its Republican voter guide, posting the guide Monday morning on social media and the party website. By the end of the day, after a swirl of social media backlash, the chapter had taken down the voter guide post.

“There has been no official endorsement, our team asked the Palm Beach GOP to take down its voter guide-they obliged. We renew our call for Mike Caruso to withdraw from the race,” Power said.

“For the record, our guide originally listed every Republican nominee, as Florida Statute requires. As soon as we were permitted to remove the nominee running for a constitutional office, we did,” the Palm Beach GOP stated.

“It is LEGAL to take this guide with you to vote,” it added.

“I appreciate the @PalmBeachGOP doing the right thing,” Power said.

Caruso, 67, faces five felony counts: kidnapping, child molestation, lewd exhibition, luring or enticing a child, and child abuse causing mental injury.

Caruso has maintained his innocence and has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

He also intends to stay in the race for Palm Beach County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller.

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Former GOP State Lawmaker And DeSantis Appointee Arrested On Child Sex Abuse Charges

CBS12 has more:

The Palm Beach County Young Republicans announced that the group does not support Caruso and will instead encourage voters to support Democratic nominee Yvette Drucker.

Alex Fahmy, president of the Palm Beach Young Republican Club, told CBS12 News the controversy has affected the group's efforts to campaign for other Republican candidates.

“This endorsement has caused significant damage,” Fahmy said. “It has undermined our local candidates, has been a huge distraction for very important races.”

Fahmy said his organization had nothing to do with creating the county party's guide but nevertheless received angry messages and comments after it circulated.

“I spent four or five hours last night just deleting comments of people coming to our social media page,” Fahmy said.

He said volunteers have also encountered criticism while knocking on doors for other Republican candidates, particularly in the state House district Caruso previously represented.

Fahmy said the Young Republicans decided they needed to publicly distance themselves from Caruso and the guide.

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