DeSantis Taps Florida AG Ashley Moody To Replace Marco Rubio In The Senate

Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) announced on Thursday that he has chosen Florida Republican Attorney General Ashley Moody to replace Sen. Marco Rubio, the likely incoming Secretary of State, in the U.S. Senate.

Moody, 49, has served as Florida’s AG under DeSantis since 2019 and has been at the forefront of multiple issues recently. In November, she sued FEMA over its alleged discrimination against Trump supporters during the disaster relief efforts after Hurricane Milton. She also took on special prosecutor Jack Smith “for his politically motivated persecution of the former president,” DeSantis said at a press conference in Orlando.

“In appointing a U.S. senator, I initially put out several different criteria,” DeSantis said. “One, I want somebody that’s going to work with President Trump to deliver on the mandate he earned from the American people. I want a senator that’s going to be willing to lean in against the excessive spending and cut spending and stop the inflation. I want somebody that understands that the federal bureaucracy is run amok and it must be held to account.”

“And we need somebody that understands the fight against illegal immigration, is willing to shut the border, and importantly, make sure any legal immigration to this country is putting Americans first,” he added. “We can’t be bringing foreigners in to displace our own people in key positions.”

The attorney general vowed to “bring the same persistence and passion and tenacity as a United States senator as that I have brought as Florida’s attorney general.”

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“Governor, I want you to know I will not let you down, I will not let the citizens of Florida down, and I will not let my country down,” Moody said at the press conference.

DeSantis said he considered many candidates for the open Senate seat, but after looking at one final criterion, the Florida governor decided to go with Moody.

“I wanted somebody with a demonstrated record of delivering results on those important issues,” DeSantis said. “Talk is cheap. We need people that have demonstrated fidelity to these principles with their actions.”

Moody won two statewide attorney general elections by large margins. Before she became attorney general, Moody served as a federal prosecutor and was the youngest judge in Florida when she was elected to the Circuit Court in Hillsborough County in 2006. Assuming the Senate confirms Rubio to serve as Trump’s Secretary of State, Moody will serve in the Senate seat until a special election is held in 2026 when she can decide to run for re-election. Rubio has served in the Senate since 2011, and Republicans have controlled both of Florida’s Senate seats since 2019.

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