Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody chosen to fill Marco Rubio’s Senate seat

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody will take Marco Rubio at the U.S. Senate seat, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Thursday, making Moody only the second woman to represent Florida in the room.

Elected as the state’s top law enforcement official in 2018, Moody campaigned by promising voters she would be a prosecutor, not a politician. But along with DeSantis, she raised her political profile at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, calling on the federal government to “hold China accountable” for the outbreak.

In elevating him to the post, DeSantis hailed Moody as a key player in his political battles, a law-and-order prosecutor ready to help President-elect Donald Trump “secure and close the border,” curb the inflation and to revise what he described. as a federal bureaucracy “goes crazy.”

“I’m ready to show up and fight for this nation and fight for President Trump to implement the America First agenda on day one,” Moody said during Thursday’s announcement at a hotel. ‘Orlando.

“The only way to return this country to the people, to those who govern it, is to make sure that we have a strong Congress that does its job, passing laws and actually approving the regulations that these unelected bureaucrats are trying to impose in the United States. people,” she added.

Before running for statewide office, Moody worked as a federal prosecutor. In 2006, she was elected to the position of circuit judge in Hillsborough County, home of Tampa. A fifth-generation native of Plant City, Florida, Moody was once named queen of the city’s famous strawberry festival. She is a three-time graduate of the University of Florida and she and her husband, a law enforcement officer, have two sons.

As state attorney general, Moody was instrumental in defending DeSantis’ conservative agenda in court and joined other Republican-led states in challenging the Biden administration’s policies , suing for changes to immigration enforcement, student loan forgiveness, and vaccination mandates for federal contractors.

“I am pleased to say that we have had an attorney general who has acted time and time again to support the values ​​we all share,” DeSantis said. “In Florida, we established our state as a beachhead of freedom, as the Free State of Florida. And she was with us every step of the way. »

Moody is not the only state attorney general using the office as a springboard to national office. His predecessor, Pam Bondi, is Trump’s pick to lead the Justice Department and will testify in the Senate on Thursday.

Moody will be the second woman to represent the state in the Senate, and the first in nearly 40 years; Republican Paula Hawkins served in the House from 1981 to 1987.

With this appointment announced, Moody is set to take over once the position becomes vacant. Rubio is expected to enjoy broad support from Republicans as well as Democrats, and his confirmation vote could arrive as early as Monday evening.

Under Florida law, it was up to the Republican governor to choose Rubio’s replacement after Trump chose the three-term senator as his next. secretary of state. Moody will serve in the Senate until the next general election in 2026, when the seat will be placed on the ballot again.

Moody used his office to defend Trump, pursue a criminal case against a man accused of attempting to assassinate Trump at his West Palm Beach country club in September. She was also among the state attorneys general to sign the Trump-backed lawsuit aimed at overturning Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.

The attorney general also fought unsuccessfully to maintain a measure of the right to abortion removed from the Florida ballot in 2024, saying his supporters were waging “a war” to protect the procedure. The measure was presented to voters, but ultimately failed to gain 60% approval it was necessary to pass.

Moody could play key role in Trump hearings. Cabinet candidatessome of whom are expected to face a difficult path to confirmation.

Republicans narrowly hold a majority in the Senate, 53-47, but they fell to 52 after Vice President-elect JD Vance resigned his seat last week before taking office. That means Trump’s nominees need the support of nearly every Republican senator to gain majority confirmation over Democrats’ objections.

Republican Sen. Joe Gruters, a key Trump ally in the state, was among those pushing the president-elect’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, as his top choice for the Senate seat. Lara Trump withdrew of the exam in December.

Still, Gruters praised Moody, calling her “a winner here in Florida.”

“She is very popular. And I think people see the work that she does and appreciate her work and her efforts to try to keep Florida safe,” Gruters said before the announcement.

Moody’s appointment opens a key position in Florida’s Cabinet, giving DeSantis another chance to expand his influence in the state. Speaking to reporters Thursday, DeSantis said he planned to tap his chief of staff, James Uthmeier, for the job.

DeSantis will also be able to choose a replacement for outgoing CFO Jimmy Patronis, who is leaving to run for the old CFO position. Rep. Matt Gaetz open seat in Congress.

___ Matat reported from West Palm Beach, Florida. Associated Press writer Freida Frisaro in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., contributed to this report. Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to cover under-reported issues.