DeSantis Picks Florida’s Female AG to Replace Rubio
Originally published by Patricia Mazzei for the New York Times
Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida on Thursday named Ashley Moody, the Republican state attorney general, to replace Marco Rubio in the U.S. Senate, elevating a close ally to Mr. Rubio’s seat after he is confirmed as President-elect Donald J. Trump’s secretary of state.
“I wanted somebody with a demonstrated record of delivering results,” Mr. DeSantis said in Orlando before announcing Ms. Moody as Mr. Rubio’s successor. The announcement came one day after Mr. Rubio’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee went smoothly. He is expected to win confirmation easily in a vote of the full Senate.
Ms. Moody, like Mr. DeSantis, was elected to statewide office in 2018 and re-elected in 2022. She had been seen as a front-runner for Mr. Rubio’s seat, appearing by Mr. DeSantis’s side at recent public events in which she and the governor endorsed the incoming Trump administration’s hard line on immigration.