Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has appointed Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) successor after the senator was nominated to be President-elect Donald Trump’s Secretary of State.
DeSantis announced on January 16 that he had chosen Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody (R) to replace Rubio in the Senate. The 49-year-old attorney has served as AG since 2019, and has been very successful in her role, filing numerous lawsuits to protect her constituents — including suing FEMA in November after it was revealed that the agency’s employees had been discriminating against Trump supporters in their disaster relief efforts after Hurricane Milton. Moody also sued illegally-appointed special prosecutor Jack Smith “for his politically motivated persecution” of Trump, according to DeSantis’ comments at a press conference about the appointment in Orlando.
For the last four years, Florida fought the failed Biden administration’s reckless border policies. Time after time, we sued to stop them from violating federal immigration law. @GovRonDeSantis and I won many of these legal battles.
In the U.S. Senate, I will support President…
— AG Ashley Moody (@AGAshleyMoody) January 16, 2025
“In appointing a U.S. senator, I initially put out several different criteria,” the Florida governor explained during the press conference. “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,” DeSantis added. “We can’t be bringing foreigners in to displace our own people in key positions.”
Moody also spoke at the press conference, where she 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.”
“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,” she added.
DeSantis revealed that he had been looking into many different candidates to serve as Rubio’s successor, but chose Moody after considering one final piece of criteria.
“I wanted somebody with a demonstrated record of delivering results on those important issues,” he explained. “Talk is cheap. We need people that have demonstrated fidelity to these principles with their actions.”
Moody has won two different elections to serve as attorney general by wide margins, and previously served as a federal prosecutor and a circuit court judge in Hillsborough County, where she was the youngest judge in the state of Florida. If Rubio is confirmed as the next Secretary of State, Moody will be his successor in the Senate until a special election can be held in 2026, when she can choose to run for reelection.
