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Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis selected the state’s attorney general, Republican Ashley Moody, to fill Sen. Marco Rubio’s seat in the U.S. Senate following his appointment to serve as President-elect Donald Trump’s secretary of state.
Should Rubio successfully be confirmed by the Senate to the State Department, Moody will hold office until the next statewide special election in 2026. The winner of the special election would then serve out the remainder of Rubio’s term and run again in 2028.
Moody has yet to address whether she will later run for a full term.
DeSantis commended Moody, who since 2019 has served two terms as Florida’s attorney general, for having “honorably served our people,” while in office.
In explaining the criteria for his appointment, the governor noted that he “wanted somebody with a demonstrated record of delivering results,” particularly on President Trump’s economic agenda and border security goals.
DeSantis’ selection comes after long speculation surrounding Rubio’s successor. The president-elect’s daughter-in-law and former Republican National Committee Vice Chair Lara Trump was even considered for the role, though she ultimately removed her name from consideration in December.
After being elected Florida’s highest legal officer in 2018, Moody succeeded Pam Bondi, who was recently appointed by the president-elect to serve as U.S. attorney general. She later won reelection in 2018 by a monumental landslide.
As state attorney general, Moody has served as a strong ally of President Trump. In 2020, she supported the president’s Texas v. Pennsylvania lawsuit that challenged the 2020 election results, The Hill reported. She also charged the reported would-be assassin Ryan Wesley Routh, who was accused of attempting to assassinate the president-elect in September on one of his Florida golf courses.
Rubio has already concluded his confirmation hearing, and will likely receive bipartisan support in the U.S. Senate. Once President Trump gets sworn into office, Rubio is expected to resign as senator, and Moody will fill his vacancy.