DeSantis picks Florida AG to replace Rubio in the U.S. Senate

Ashley Moody, the state’s attorney general, will soon move from Florida’s Cabinet to the U.S. Senate.

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday announced Moody as his nominee to replace U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio to become President-elect Donald J. Trump’s next secretary of state. The governor made the announcement at a press conference on Thursday in Orlando.

DeSantis said he wants someone who will take a hard line on illegal immigration enforcement, fight the fentanyl crisis and support conservative judges and judges.

“She hasn’t been a stickler on any of these issues,” DeSantis said of Moody’s immigration record. “She will go there and be part of the enforcement group, not the amnesty group, and that is what we need.”

Moody was a staunch ally of DeSantis while in office, consistently supporting his efforts to crack down on illegal immigration and suing over numerous of President Joe Biden’s initiatives on issues such as immigration, transgender discrimination and student loan forgiveness.

“I will not abandon you, I will not abandon the citizens of Florida and I will not abandon my country,” Moody said after DeSantis made the announcement. “I will bring the same tenacity, passion and tenacity as a U.S. senator that I brought as attorney general.”

More:Who is Ashley Moody, DeSantis’ choice to replace Marco Rubio in the US Senate?

DeSantis indicated that he would name his chief of staff, James Uthmeier, to replace Moody, but would wait until Moody actually takes office in Washington. He expects that move to come Monday afternoon, or shortly after Rubio is confirmed by the Senate.

The moves are the latest in a merry-go-round of seat flipping among Florida Republicans as Trump leaned heavily on the Sunshine State’s staff to staff his new administration.

Moody, 49, who became the second woman to serve as Florida attorney general in 2019, succeeding Pam Bondi, will also be the second woman to represent Florida in the U.S. Senate. Paula Hawkins, a Republican, served one term from 1981 to 1987 but lost re-election to Democrat Bob Graham.

Moody is a former federal prosecutor and Florida District Court judge with roots in Florida’s legal firmament. She received her law degree from the University of Florida School of Law in 2001. Her father, James Moody Jr., is a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida and was nominated by former President Bill Clinton.

After graduating from law school, Moody joined the firm of Holland & Knight before seeking and winning a judgeship on the 13th District Court in Hillsborough in 2006. Her brother, James Moody III, was appointed by DeSantis to be a judge on the same court in 2022.

In 2018, she resigned to run for attorney general, defeating former Rep. Frank White, a Republican from Pensacola, in the primary and another former state representative, Democrat Sean Shaw of Tampa, in the general election .

Moody has been a loyal ally of Trump, supporting, for example, his legal challenges to the certification of election results in a few states in 2020, when he lost the election to Biden. The challenges were dismissed by the courts.

That record suggests she will be a reliable voice for Trump’s agenda in the Senate, as she takes a hard line on immigration enforcement – one of DeSantis’ requirements for a Senate run.

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