Suspended Palm Beach County Clerk of Courts Mike Caruso said he still "intend[s] to win" the November election and has not abandoned his campaign " nor has the local Republican Party abandoned him " even after his August arrest on allegations he molested a small child. Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Caruso, 68, a Republican former state legislator who was approaching term limits, to the clerk's post exactly one year before his arrest. A staunch DeSantis ally in the past, the governor immediately suspended him after his arrest by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Caruso pleaded not guilty to charges of lewd or lascivious molestation, kidnapping, lewd or lascivious exhibition, child abuse and luring or enticing a child. The case centers on allegations made by a male relative who was under the age of 5 at the time.