Next Step

Maria Chapa Lopez sat down in a Washington, D.C., boardroom last fall opposite two of the highest-ranking law enforcement officers in the country, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

While the names Sessions and Rosenstein, in national political news, are synonymous with alleged Russian election tampering and special prosecutors, Chapa Lopez was there for something else: a job interview.

A longtime federal prosecutor, Chapa Lopez was a candidate to be named interim U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida. With a headquarters office in Tampa, the district is a wide-ranging territory that covers 35 counties from Jacksonville to Naples. Chapa Lopez brought some high-profile, past-case experience to the interview.