Gov. Ron DeSantis and Attorney General Ashley Moody in Orlando on Jan. 16, 2024, via DeSantis Facebbook feed.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has named state Attorney General Ashley Moody, an ideological ally, to replace Marco Rubio in the U.S. Senate if he’s confirmed as U.S. secretary of state, which could happen as soon as next week.
Speaking in Orlando, DeSantis said that on the issues that he’s cared about and ran on since he was initially elected in 2018, Moody has been right at his side of all of those battles — whether it was on illegal immigration, fentanyl, or human trafficking.
He boasted about the more than a dozen lawsuits she has filed against the Biden administration during her six years as attorney general, and her legal challenges defending President-elect Donald Trump.
“She took on Jack Smith for his politically motivated persecution of the former president, fought back against the rogue attorney general of New York for her politicizing justice. Led the Florida investigation into the second Trump assassination attempt in Palm Beach, even as the federal government continues to try to block her efforts,” he said.
DeSantis referenced how she has “rejected DEI, ESG, gender ideology, and supported our efforts to ensure that Florida’s education is free from impositions of the radical left.”
Moody, 49, was born and raised in Plant City in eastern Hillsborough County. She began her legal career with the law firm of Holland & Knight before joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Tampa, where she worked as a federal prosecutor.
In 2006, at the age of 31, she became the youngest judge in Florida when elected to the trial bench in the state’s 13th Judicial Circuit in Hillsborough County.
In 2018, she defeated Democrat Sean Shaw in her first run for attorney general, 52%-46%. She won reelection in 2022 against Democrat Aramis Ayala, 61%-39%.
“I am proud not to just say I have fought alongside you for six years, but I am proud to call you a friend,” Moody said to DeSantis as she addressed the audience. “I am ready to fight for this nation and fight for President Trump to deliver the American First agenda on Day One,” she said to cheers.
She went on to blast the Joe Biden administration.
“We have seen policy after policy after rule, after financial decisions spending out of the agencies. As the agencies have gotten bigger, as they have taken more power. As they have tried to tell the states what to do more and more and more, all that does is take the will of the people, the want of the people, through their elected representatives in Congress, and turns this into a country we don’t even recognize anymore,” Moody said.
DeSantis said he will select James Uthmeier, his chief of staff, to replace Moody as the state’s next attorney general.
Several candidates
The governor said he interviewed several qualified candidates for the position, but decided against choosing a member of the state’s congressional delegation because of the GOP’s narrow margin over Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives, disappointing Florida member of Congress Cory Mills and Kat Cammack. He mentioned Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd and Hillsborough County state Sen. Jay Collins as other candidates he had considered.
Moody will face re-election in a special election in 2026, when she may face competition from other Republicans. The seat comes up for election again in 2028.
The pick was slammed by Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried, who called Moody “Ron’s personal lapdog from Day One.”
“Despite her role as an independent constitutional officer, she has insisted on calling him ‘boss’ and defended his extreme agenda at every turn. Her reward is a seat in the United States Senate, paid for by her loyalty to Ron and her failure to serve Floridians,” Fried said in a statement.
“As Attorney General, Ashley ignored the growing property insurance crisis and let wealthy corporations rip off Floridians. Instead, she spent her time chasing political attention and currying favor with the far right. She worked for over a year to silence the voices of Floridians who wanted Amendment 4 on the ballot, weaponizing state law and the Florida Constitution to score the political points that got her this appointment.”
Amendment 4 would have reestablished abortion right in the Florida Constitution but failed to meet the 60% approval threshold. As AG, Moody has served on the Florida Cabinet, comprising three independently elected statewide officials who decide policy with the governor in a range of issues.
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