Palm Beach County Arrest & Investigation Update: Mike Caruso’s ballot presence raises question: Will party-line voters overlook arrest?

What happened: Suspended Palm Beach County Clerk of Court and Comptroller Mike Caruso 's name is still on the November ballot.

Background: One of the key questions is can he realistically win in November?. Caruso, a Republican, was taken into custody last month on charges of kidnapping, lewd or lascivious molestation, lewd or lascivious exhibition, luring or enticing a chld and chld abuse-mental injury.

DeSantis suspended him. When voters go to the polls in November, Caruso's name will still be on the ballot, even if he pulls out of the race at this point.

A political science professor at the University of Central Florida says some Republican voters may vote for all the Republican candidates on the ballot. But he feels that wouldn't be enough for Caruso to win.

"From what we know about previous elections, not just in Florida, but in many other states, a candidate who is facing such serious charges would be highly unlikely to be elected, and these are really serious charges, and these are the kind of charges that the public, they're pretty sensational since they involve chld S3xual abuse," said Prof. Jewett says he feels some voters will cast their ballots for Caruso simply because they're not well-informed and haven't heard about Caruso's arrest, but he feels not many voters will be in that category.

Caruso is currently free on bond.

The available details are limited to the information verified at publication time. Readers should expect updates as the matter develops.

Any person identified in connection with an alleged offense is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.

Source: official sources including CBS12 News.