ORLANDO, Fla. – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis held a news conference Thursday in Orlando announcing Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody as his pick to replace U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio.
Assuming Rubio is confirmed as expected as U.S. Secretary of State and she is appointed, the Tampa-area Republican will become the second woman U.S. Senator from Florida. The first was Sen. Paula Hawkins, who served as a Republican from 1981 to 1987.
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DeSantis, in announcing the pick, praised Moody’s stances on illegal immigration and the size of government.
Along with DeSantis, Moody boosted her political profile during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, calling on the federal government to “hold China responsible” for the outbreak.
Moody, 49, was elected Florida Attorney General in 2019.
Before running for statewide office, Moody worked as a federal prosecutor. In 2006, she was elected to the post of circuit judge in Hillsborough County, home to Tampa.
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.
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 fought unsuccessfully to keep an abortion rights measure off the ballot in Florida in 2024, saying proponents were waging “a war” to protect the procedure. The measure did go before voters but ultimately failed to get the 60% approval needed to pass.
She was also among the state attorneys general to sign on to the lawsuit backed by Trump aimed at overturning Joe Biden’s election victory in 2020.
Republican state Sen. Joe Gruters, a key Trump ally in the state, was among those who had pushed the president-elect’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump as their top pick for the Senate seat. Lara Trump removed herself from consideration in December.
Still, Gruters praised Moody, calling her “a winner here in Florida.”
“She’s very popular. And I think people see the job that she does and they appreciate her work and her effort at trying to ... keep Florida safe,” Gruters said ahead of the announcement.
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.