Casey Strickland

Many political races in the county only have one candidate that are running for the position, and the District Attorney’s race was shaping up that way in May’s primary, but a write-in campaign put a Republican on the Democratic Party’s ballot.

Cody Brown, First Assistant District Attorney, beat Casey Strickland, Assistant District Attorney 2,356 to 1,886 in the republican primary, but Strickland won the democratic primary as a write in candidate. They will face each other again this fall in another election from opposite sides of the political divide.

“When running for DA, political affiliation should not matter. The job of the District Attorney is to fairly enforce laws as they are written.” Strickland said, while stressing that she is a registered Republican.

Strickland thinks the job of DA would allow her to be the “face of the office for the victims. It’s so important to connect to the victims so they feel seen and heard and trust you. Crime victims have their guard up and it’s important to connect with them. At the end of the case, they have someone they can trust and who can trust them. ”

Strickland, a Tampa native, has deep roots in the county, where she came every summer to visit her grandparents. “Warren has always been like a second home. I spent years coming here each summer. Warren was a utopia for a city kid. As kids, we would walk across town to The Plaza for lunch without an adult and no one was worried. It was mind blowing.” Strickland said. Strickland earned her undergraduate degree from the University of South Florida before completing her law degree at the University of Mississippi School of Law. She began her legal career in Warren County in 2019 as a judicial law clerk for the Court of Common Pleas for Warren and Forest counties. In 2021, she joined the Warren County District Attorney’s Office as the second assistant district attorney.