Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has chosen Ashley Moody to replace Marco Rubio in the U.S. Senate. Moody, Florida’s Attorney General, will be the second woman to represent Florida in the Senate, following Paula Hawkins who served from 1981-1987.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has chosen Ashley Moody to replace Marco Rubio in the U.S. Senate.
Moody, Florida's Attorney General, will be the second woman to represent Florida in the Senate, following fellow Republican Paula Hawkins who served from 1981-1987.
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Moody, 49 is from Plant City east of Tampa and is a fifth generation Floridian. DeSantis said she was named the queen of Plant City's famous Strawberry Festival in her youth.
Her father, James S. Moody Jr., is a former circuit judge and is currently a judge for the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
Moody attended the University of Florida where she earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting and law degree. She earned a Masters of Law in International Law at Stetson University College of Law.
Local
Her legal career began when she practiced commercial litigation with the law firm of Holland & Knight, and she later joined the U.S. Attorney's Office as a federal prosecutor.
Youngest Judge and Attorney General
In 2006, at the age of 31, Moody became the youngest judge in Florida when she was elected Circuit Court Judge of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit in Hillsborough County.
Moody resigned from the court in 2017 to run for attorney general, and won the position in 2018. She was reelected in 2022 by a large margin.
Time as Attorney General
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.
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 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.
Personal Life
Moody is married to a Justin Duralia, a former DEA agent and current deputy chief of police in Plant City, and the couple has two sons.
