ORLANDO, Fla. – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday appointed Attorney General Ashley Moody to take a seat in the U.S. Senate, replacing Senator Marco Rubio.
During a news conference in Orlando, DeSantis announced that Moody, who has been serving as attorney general since 2019, was his pick to replace Rubio, who will be the next secretary of state.
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“I am proud not to just say I have fought alongside you for six years, but I’m proud to call you a friend, and I am very honored with this nomination,” Moody said.
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Moody, a fifth-generation Floridian, was born and raised in Plant City, Florida, and was named the 1993 Strawberry Festival Queen.
She attended the University of Florida where she earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting and law degree. She then joined the United States Attorney’s Office prosecuting drug, firearm and fraud offenses.
In 2006, Attorney General Moody became the youngest judge in Florida when she was elected Circuit Court Judge of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit in Hillsborough County, according to her website.
“I’m happy to say we’ve had an attorney general who has been somebody that has acted time and time again to support the values that we all share, whether that’s illegal immigration, opioid and fentanyl crisis, human trafficking. She has stood strong time and time again, most recently in this past year, filing lawsuits and joining lawsuits to take on the weaponization of law enforcement that targeted then-candidate Donald Trump,” DeSantis said.
Dr. Michael Binder, a political science professor at the University of North Florida, said he’s not surprised by DeSantis’ pick.
“If you look at who his inner circle of supporters are, it’s really shrunk in the last year, year and a half since his failed bid for the presidency. And Ashley Moody was one of the folks statewide, one of the few folks statewide that was out endorsing him in that, she’s always been a close confidant,” Binder said. “She had her eye on political office beyond the current state AG role that she’s in. So, this makes a lot of sense for DeSantis to get, somebody that supports him into the Senate.”
Moody and her husband, Justin, a federal law enforcement agent, have two sons.
As the state’s attorney general, Moody has been instrumental in defending DeSantis’ conservative agenda in court and has joined other Republican-led states in challenging the Biden administration’s policies, suing over changes to immigration enforcement, student loan forgiveness and vaccine mandates for federal contractors.
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Under Florida law, it’s up to the Republican governor to pick Rubio’s replacement, after President-elect Donald Trump picked the three-term senator to be his next secretary of state. Moody will serve in the Senate until the next general election in 2026, when the seat will be back on the ballot.
Moody’s appointment opens up a key vacancy in Florida’s Cabinet, giving DeSantis another shot at expanding his influence in the state. DeSantis will also get to pick a replacement for outgoing Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, who’s leaving his post to run for former Rep. Matt Gaetz’s open seat in Congress.