DeSantis Selects Marco Rubio’s Senate Replacement
Charlie Kirk Staff
01/16/2025

Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) announced on Thursday that he has selected Florida Republican Attorney General Ashley Moody to replace Sen. Marco Rubio, who is expected to become the incoming Secretary of State, in the U.S. Senate.
Moody, 49, has served as Florida’s Attorney General under DeSantis since 2019 and has been a prominent figure on several key issues. In November, she sued FEMA over allegations of discrimination against Trump supporters during disaster relief efforts following Hurricane Milton.
She also took on special prosecutor Jack Smith, challenging what DeSantis described as Smith’s “politically motivated persecution of the former president” during a press conference in Orlando, the Daily Wire reported.
“In appointing a U.S. senator, I initially put out several different criteria,” DeSantis said. “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,” he added. “We can’t be bringing foreigners in to displace our own people in key positions.”
The outgoing Florida AG 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,” Moody said at the press conference.
DeSantis said he looked at several GOP candidates before finally choosing Moody.
“I wanted somebody with a demonstrated record of delivering results on those important issues,” DeSantis said. “Talk is cheap. We need people that have demonstrated fidelity to these principles with their actions.”
Moody won a pair of statewide elections by wide margins.