Last month, Nick Cox sat in a Tampa courtroom and silently listened to a public defender argued that he had no business being there. Tony Patterson’s case was in question. He is one of 17 people that Gov. Ron DeSantis claims committed voter fraud in the 2020 election despite having a felony conviction. The office of statewide prosecution brought Patterson’s case, as it did with the others. Cox is the state’s attorney.
The public defender argued that Cox lacked the power to pursue an alleged offense that was restricted to Hillsborough County because Cox’s agency handles cases involving many court districts. Susan Lopez, Hillsborough’s state attorney, would merely file the lawsuit under her office’s jurisdiction while naming his office and keeping his staff in charge, Cox informed the court.
Despite being in a strong position, he gets little attention. Cox, 59, recently won a second four-year term to do it quietly. He was the sole applicant when he reapplied for the position. In an interview with a judicial nominating body last month, he declared, “I adore my job.” “I am certain that serving as the state’s prosecutor is likely among Florida’s top jobs. You can make such a big difference. And it appears that we have.
Despite having a presence across the entire state, Cox is a native of Tampa. His only time spent away from the region was the two years he spent attending law school at Washburn University in Kansas. He is from a Jesuit High School and the University of South Florida, an alumnus.
From 1988 until 1997, he served Hillsborough County as an assistant state attorney. Later, he worked as a lecturer at Stetson University College of Law and the attorney general’s office. He spent nearly four years working for the Department of Children and Families as a regional director outside of the legal field.
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Cox admitted before the committee that he briefly considered working in private practice but decided it wasn’t for him. He favors working for the government. He told the commission, “I genuinely like being a prosecutor.” “I firmly believe we have a chance here to make an effort to act morally every day we go to work.”
In 2011, he was appointed as the state’s prosecutor, working under the former attorney general Pam Bondi. Under Attorney General Ashley Moody, who took office in 2018, he has remained to serve. Cox is married to Karen Cox, a former prosecutor in Tampa who is currently employed by the Appleton Reiss law firm in that city. According to his candidature for the office of the statewide prosecutor, the pair also runs three coin laundries in Tampa.
Attempts to speak with Cox for this article were turned down by the Attorney General’s Office. About 60 attorneys from the statewide prosecutor’s office staff eight offices across the state. Cox claimed that he felt his hiring of quality staff had been successful. He explained that the best thing he could do was to move aside “and let them practice their art.”
In recent years, his practice has expanded as attorneys have been hired to handle matters involving gaming, pill mills, and most significantly, election fraud. When commissioners questioned Cox about his priorities, he did not bring up electoral fraud.
He stated that fraud cases and human trafficking are his office’s two main areas of focus. He claimed that the attorney general had given senior citizen scams and cyber fraud special attention. On rare occasions, he represents himself in court. He said that he managed a securities fraud trial last year.
I trust the system, he declared. “I find it easy to stick with it.” The accusations of voter fraud against Patterson were eventually dropped by Cox’s office, even though he first appeared unwavering in the face of a dispute over his office’s authority to do so. However, the Hillsborough case is still pending.
Nathan Hart was one of the 17 people detained in August on suspicion of casting a ballot in the 2020 election despite having previously been convicted of a felony. Cox’s office shouldn’t be the one to bring the matter to trial, according to the Hillsborough public defender’s office, as the alleged offense did not cross judicial circuits.
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The defense of Hart requested that the case be dismissed because Cox’s office had the authority to bring the case, but the judge rejected that claim. It may be up to a Hillsborough County jury to decide how the matter is resolved. In a hearing this week, Hart turned down Nathaniel Bahill, one of Cox’s attorneys, who had proposed a six-month probationary sentence.
Hart declared, “I don’t believe that I intentionally did anything improper. The matter will still go to trial the following week. It’s unclear whether Cox will attend. But he and others will undoubtedly be keeping a close eye on this case.
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