Florida Sen. Ashley Moody, the former state attorney general appointed to fill the vacancy left by Marco Rubio’s elevation to secretary of state, has emerged as a leading conservative voice in the U.S. Senate and a strong contender in the 2026 special election to keep the seat.
Moody easily defeated Chris Gleason, Neelam Perry, and Ernie Rivera, but the race was widely regarded as noncompetitive.
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Moody has had “minimal opposition,” and current coverage treats her as the overwhelming favorite for the Republican nomination.
On January 16, 2025, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced he was selecting Moody to succeed Rubio, who resigned after his unanimous Senate confirmation as President Donald Trump’s secretary of state.
“Today I am proud to announce that I am selecting our attorney general, Ashley Moody, to serve as our next U.S. senator,” DeSantis said at an Orlando news conference.
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DeSantis praised her as a “law and order” leader ready to help Trump “secure and shut the border,” rein in inflation, and overhaul a federal bureaucracy “run amok.”
Moody was sworn in on January 21, 2025, by Vice President JD Vance, becoming only the second woman to represent Florida in the Senate—the first since Republican Paula Hawkins in the 1980s.
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Under Florida law, the Republican governor fills Senate vacancies, and Moody will serve through a special election in 2026 for the remainder of Rubio’s term (ending January 3, 2027), with the winner then facing voters again in 2028.
DeSantis simultaneously tapped his chief of staff, James Uthmeier, to succeed her as attorney general.
🚨 NOW: SAVE America Act warrior and Trump-endorsed Sen. Ashley Moody WINS Florida GOP primary
Great news! Moody was the HIGHEST vote-getter in 2022 — even getting more votes than Ron DeSantis that year.
She can be a top of the ticket BEHEMOTH for Republicans trying to take… pic.twitter.com/AQDm5cXUQG
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) August 18, 2026
Moody’s path to the Senate reflects a deep conservative pedigree rooted in law enforcement and constitutional principles.
Born March 28, 1975, in Plant City—the “Winter Strawberry Capital of the World”—she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting plus a J.D. from the University of Florida, and an LL.M. in international law from Stetson University.
She began as a commercial litigator at Holland & Knight, then served as an assistant U.S. attorney prosecuting drug, firearm, and fraud cases.
In 2006, at age 31, she became Florida’s youngest circuit court judge, serving the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit in Hillsborough County until 2017.
Elected Florida’s 38th attorney general in 2018, Moody took office in January 2019 and quickly became a national conservative leader.
She repeatedly sued the Biden administration over open-border policies, COVID mandates, student loan forgiveness, and efforts to undermine state sovereignty on issues like parental rights and biological sex in sports.
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As chair of Florida’s Statewide Council on Human Trafficking, she cracked down on predators. She secured historic multibillion-dollar opioid settlements from Big Pharma, supported and recruited law enforcement officers, defended the Second Amendment, and protected the unborn and religious liberty.
During Trump’s first term, she served on the Presidential Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice.
DeSantis highlighted her “impressive resume” and “demonstrated record of delivering results” on immigration, noting she would join the “enforcement caucus, not the amnesty caucus.”
Moody has described her mission simply: “America first. Get it done.”
Upon her appointment, she pledged to “fight for President Trump to deliver the ‘America First’ agenda on Day One.”
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Her Senate work has focused on border security, rule of law, and Florida’s military and veterans priorities; she later joined the Armed Services Committee, drawing on her military family background.
As she campaigns to hold the seat in the August 18, 2026, Republican primary and November special election, Moody has amassed a powerful roster of endorsements from the conservative movement’s heavyweights.
President Trump gave her his “Complete and Total Endorsement.”
“SHE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN,” Trump said, praising her work to grow the economy, cut taxes and regulations, secure the border, stop migrant crime, strengthen the military, and defend the Second Amendment.
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Fellow Florida Sen. Rick Scott called her a “fearless leader.”
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville, the Republican Party of Florida, the National Rifle Association, the Senate Conservatives Fund, the Florida Chamber of Commerce, and all 15 Republican state attorneys in Florida have also backed her.
Law enforcement groups, including sheriffs and the Florida Police Benevolent Association, have lined up solidly behind the former prosecutor and AG who always stood with the thin blue line.
This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
