Ashley Moody

Moody was born and raised in Plant City, Florida, and is a fifth-generation Floridian. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting and a law degree from the University of Florida, and an LL.M. in International Law from Stetson University College of Law.⁠[1]

Moody began her legal career at Holland & Knight, practicing commercial litigation, and later joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office, where she prosecuted drug, firearm and fraud offenses.⁠[1][2]

In 2006, at age 31, Moody was elected a circuit court judge of Florida’s Thirteenth Judicial Circuit in Hillsborough County. Her Senate office website describes her as having been the youngest judge in Florida at the time.⁠[1][2]

Moody was elected Florida attorney general in 2018 and served as the state’s 38th attorney general from 2019 to 2025. Her Senate office website lists chairing the Statewide Council on Human Trafficking, serving as a commissioner on the Presidential Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice, and securing billions of dollars for Florida through opioid litigation among her work in the office.⁠[2][1]

As attorney general she defended Gov. Ron DeSantis’s agenda in court and joined other Republican-led states in suing over Biden administration policies on immigration enforcement, student loan forgiveness and vaccine mandates for federal contractors. She also signed onto a Trump-backed lawsuit seeking to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory, and unsuccessfully sought to keep a 2024 abortion rights amendment off the Florida ballot; the measure fell short of the 60% approval it needed.⁠[2]

Her office also pursued a criminal case against the man accused of trying to assassinate Donald Trump in September 2024.⁠[2]

After Donald Trump chose Marco Rubio to be secretary of state, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on January 16, 2025, that he was appointing Moody to Rubio’s Senate seat until the seat returned to the ballot in the 2026 election. She became only the second woman to represent Florida in the Senate.⁠[2]

At the announcement she said, “I’m ready to show up and fight for this nation and fight for President Trump to deliver the America First agenda on Day 1.” She was sworn into the Senate on January 21, 2025.⁠[2][1]

She serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee; the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee; the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee; the Joint Economic Committee; and the Special Committee on Aging.⁠[1]

In the Republican primary for the special Senate election on August 18, 2026, Moody won about 80% of the vote, defeating Chris Gleason, Ernest Rivera and Neelam Perry. She had raised about $11.2 million that year.⁠[3]

In the November 3 special election Moody defeated Democratic nominee and state Rep. Angie NixonAngie NixonAngie Nixon is an American Democratic politician and community organizer who was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2020 for a Jacksonville district and is executive director of the statewide voter-registration coalition Florida for All. She was the Democratic nominee in Florida’s 2026 special U.S. Senate election and lost the November 3 general election to Ashley Moody.Open the full entry, and the Associated Press called the race for her that day. She had framed the contest as “freedom versus socialism,” and on election night she said, “Well, Florida chose freedom.”⁠[4]

In her acceptance speech in Tampa she said, “I am mindful that there are millions of Floridians that voted for someone else,” and added, “I am your senator. I am here to serve you.”⁠[5]

She will serve the remainder of Rubio’s term, and the seat is next up for election in 2028.⁠[5][3]

Senator Ashley Moody: Official website: https://www.moody.senate.gov/ (opens in a new window).⁠[1]

X: Public account: https://x.com/SenAshleyMoody (opens in a new window).⁠[1]

YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry: Public channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuDDW7huwfAOHjf0YYRSWFw (opens in a new window).⁠[1]