ORLANDO, Fla. – When longtime former prosecutor William Vose entered the race for Orange-Osceola state attorney as a write-in candidate last year, he was not necessarily trying to win the election and take control of the office.
Instead, Vose’s goal was to watch the incumbent state attorney go down in defeat.
“I did it to get Jeff Ashton out of office. That was accomplished,” Vose told News 6. “What occurred after, it’s a shame.”
Vose is referring to the controversial announcement made by the victor of that election, Aramis Ayala, who promised to never seek the death penalty in any case prosecuted by her office.
“I was as shocked as anyone when she made the announcement,” said Vose. “I never had a clue (about Ayala’s death penalty plans). It actually never came up. Obviously we overlooked it.”
Vose expressed displeasure with Ayala’s decision -- a decision which prompted Gov. Rick Scott to reassign 23 of her office’s capital cases.
“It’s turned into a real debacle,” Vose said. “What an embarrassment.”
“The irony is that Bill Vose, a conservative Republican who supports the death penalty, played a key role in electing a liberal Democrat who opposes the death penalty,” said Jim Clark, a University of Central Florida history professor who follows local politics.
“If Rick Scott is looking for someone to blame, he might want to pick up the phone and call Bill Vose,” Clark said.
Vose’s candidacy alters state attorney race
When Ayala began campaigning for the state attorney position in March 2016, many assumed her only challenger would be Ashton, the incumbent who took over the office four years earlier following his high-profile role prosecuting Casey Anthony.
Vose immediately offered support to Ayala, donating $1,000 to her campaign, records show.
Since both Ayala and Ashton were running as Democrats, it appeared the August 2016 primary might be open to all voters in Orange and Osceola counties. Under Florida election laws, if the only candidates running for office are from the same political party, voters from any party affiliation are allowed to cast ballots in the primary.
That changed the following month, when Vose, a Republican, entered the race as a write-in candidate.
Vose’s candidacy forced the closure of the August primary.
His move meant only registered Democrats would be eligible to choose between Ashton and Ayala, leaving more than 500,000 Republican and independent voters with little input in the race.
“I think Jeff Ashton was seen as the more conservative of the two, and it was more likely that a Republican would have voted for him,” said Clark.
Ayala defeated Ashton in the Democratic primary by a margin of 13 percent.
Since write-in candidates historically have little success, it was no surprise when Ayala later swept the November general election against Vose with 99.7 percent of the vote.
“Everybody knew that Vose and his Republican friends were playing a game here. And they did it extremely successfully,” Clark said. “Republican voters in Orange and Osceola were disenfranchised and unable to pick a state attorney in the last election.”
Prior to the election, Ayala sent a letter to Vose saying she did not support his action and asking him to drop out of the race in time to open up the primary, according a report published in the Orlando Sentinel.
"Ms. Ayala is focused on her duties and responsibilities as State Attorney and meeting the needs of the community she serves," a state attorney spokeswoman told News 6 in response to this story.
Could Ayala have won the election if the primary had been open to all voters in Orange and Osceola counties instead of only Democrats?
The man who helped her pull off the upset isn’t certain.
“It’s possible. She did a good job convincing her base,” said Vose. “But I don’t know.”
Did vengeance play a role in state attorney election?
Vose describes Ashton as an “irritant” whom he feels was a detriment to the State Attorney’s Office, where the two men had worked together since the 1980s.
“(Ashton) proceeded to destroy the 24 years of organizational development we had done to make us the most effective and efficient prosecutor’s office in the state,” said Vose. “That is why I participated in his loss.”
But Clark believes Vose’s decision to meddle in the state attorney’s race was based on more than just disagreements about how the office was being run.
“I think this was 100 percent personal,” said Clark. “I think Vose was determined to get vengeance on Jeff Ashton.”
Vose began working for the State Attorney's Office in 1973.
Throughout much of the 1980's, Vose served as general counsel for Orange County Sheriff Lawson Lamar.
In 1989, Lamar was elected State Attorney. Vose was tapped to be his chief assistant, a position Vose would hold for more than two decades.
“Lawson Lamar never lost an election. He never even came close to losing an election until Jeff Ashton came along,” said Clark.
Ashton announced his retirement from the State Attorney’s Office in July 2011, just hours after a jury acquitted Casey Anthony of murdering her daughter.
Five months later, Ashton filed papers with the Florida Division of Elections indicating his desire to take over Lamar's office.
“He lied to Lawson (Lamar) three times to his face that he would not run against him,” Vose claims.
Boosted by his fame from the Anthony trial, Ashton defeated fellow Democrat Lamar in the 2012 primary election, winning nearly 55 percent of the vote. He did not face any challengers in the general election.
As a result, Vose’s nearly 40 year career at the State Attorney’s Office came to an end.
“Jeff Ashton cleaned house, as most state attorneys do, and Bill Vose went,” said Clark. “There was a great deal of bitterness there.”
Vose would re-emerge from retirement four months later to help one of Ashton’s prosecutors defeat her boss and become Florida’s first elected African-American state attorney.
“It is desperately sad that personal bitterness is so often the motivating factor for people’s politics rather than any real consideration of what is best for the community,” Ashton told News 6 in response to Vose’s comments about the election.
“It makes one wonder whether decisions he made while chief assistant (state attorney) were equally affected by those types of issues,” Ashton added.
Murder victim’s family frustrated by political move
Rafael Zaldivar was surprised and frustrated to hear that Vose entered the race to defeat Ashton without anticipating Ayala’s death penalty policy.
“It’s a game for him. He’s very proud of that,” said Zaldivar. “But it’s not a game. It’s not a game for us.”
Bessman Okafor was sentenced to death for murdering Zaldivar’s son, Alex, in 2012.
Following Supreme Court rulings requiring juries to be unanimous in recommending the death penalty, Okafor appealed his sentence.
Zaldivar is concerned Okafor’s case could be sent back to Ayala’s office for resentencing.
“We’re like in the middle of a blender right now,” said Zaldivar. “It’s truly shocking because, at the end, we are the ones that suffer.”
Yet Vose’s entry as a write-in candidate to close a primary is not unique in Florida.
During the same election cycle, a write-in candidate closed the Republican primary for state attorney in Duval County.
Angela Corey, the special prosecutor who unsuccessfully tried to win a murder conviction against George Zimmerman in 2013, lost that primary to Melissa Nelson.
“This idea of running a ghost candidate to close off the primary is becoming increasingly popular,” said Clark.
A state commission is currently reviewing possible changes to Florida’s constitution, which voters would have to approve next year. The elimination of closed primaries is among the considerations.
“It'll be interesting to see whether they do away with that or not,” said Clark. “It has hurt some politicians, Jeff Ashton among them, but it's helped others.”
Vose disappointed in Ayala’s actions
“I think (Ayala) would have done a good job if she had done the things she and I had discussed,” Vose told News 6.
Those discussions included Vose’s desire to improve the relationship between the State Attorney’s Office and law enforcement, something Ayala’s death penalty announcement appears to have worsened.
The death penalty controversy has also hurt Ayala’s team of prosecutors, Vose believes.
“She’s in a situation of her own creation,” he said. “It’s a shame for the (employees) in the State Attorney’s Office.”
Shortly after announcing their respective campaigns, Vose indicated he and Ayala refrained from communicating with each other.
“I couldn't figure out where she was getting advice,” said the retired prosecutor.
Liberal billionaire George Soros donated $1.4 million to a political action committee that purchased advertisements supporting Ayala, records show. Ayala has denied having any contact with her wealthy benefactor.
Does Vose now regret entering the state attorney’s race?
“I accomplished what I wanted to do. Like all things, there are collateral consequences,” he said. “It's a shame (Ashton’s) replacement is worse in the long run than he was.”