U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody was appointed to her position by Gov. Ron DeSantis exactly one year ago, following six-plus years as Florida’s attorney general.
Moody, 50, handily defeated Democrats in her 2018 and 2022 races for attorney general.
ALSO READ: Florida Democratic state Rep. Angie Nixon announces challenge to GOP U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody
She’s running this November to keep the Senate seat that opened when President Donald Trump named Marco Rubio as secretary of state. Moody previously worked as an assistant U.S. attorney and as a Hillsborough County circuit judge.
The News Service of Florida has five questions for Ashley Moody, edited for brevity and clarity.
Q: It’s been one year since you were appointed to the U.S. Senate. How does working in Washington, D.C. as a senator compare to being Florida’s attorney general?
MOODY: At one year, looking back at all the things we have tackled here in Washington, I can think of no better training than being an attorney general for a state.
Coming up here and fighting on those same issues, specifically as it relates to overreach by our agencies or ways in which the federal government can complement what we are trying to do in Florida on law enforcement issues and immigration and other things like that. It has been incredibly rewarding to use that experience as Florida’s fighter, taking that here to Washington and delivering some wins throughout the year.
I’ve been uniquely surprised at how effective you can be, coming in with some knowledge, really intimately, of some of these issues critical to Florida. I expect that next year will be even better.”
Q: What do you feel are your biggest accomplishments so far in the Senate, and what legislative goals do you have for the upcoming year?
MOODY: Anybody coming into Congress expects it to be bureaucratic and overly focused on process, just bogged down in bureaucracy getting in the way. It is; I don’t sugarcoat that. It is remarkable, in terms of the dynamics you face, when you come in trying to get things done.
But what I have found is that when you come in here with a mission, and coming in as Florida’s attorney general and having worked with Gov. DeSantis on so many great things in Florida, we are trying to take the best of Florida, focusing on those policies that make Florida great, thriving, great for families, and safe, all of those things that make people want to move to Florida and live in Florida, taking that to Washington and making that work for the American people.
ALSO READ: Former Brevard school board member will challenge for Moody's US Senate seat
If you stay focused on delivering policy that makes common sense, like safe neighborhoods, making sure our borders are secure, making sure we are fiscally responsible with taxpayer money, understanding that if we continue to add debt by the trillions at a rapid clip, we are going to devastate the future, not only of the country, but of our children. All of that comes to mind and comes to bear for me when I show up to work every day. I think that because of that energy, passion and love for our state, it was no surprise when I passed my first bill off the Senate floor on my 100th day in office. It was signed by the president the next week.
It was no surprise that I got legislation passed over the summer that supports our Kennedy Space Center. I’ll continue to do that. When the American people look back at last year’s legislation and policies that we worked on start coming into effect, whether that was reducing taxes for working families, whether that was making sure $1000 savings accounts were set up for every child born, whether that was making sure parents truly had power and input over their children’s education, I mean I could go on and on.
As these wins start going into effect this year, I think the American people will look back and say we worked hard to deliver on the mandate President Trump was given when he got into office. We will continue to do that throughout 2026.
Q: You’ve filed legislation that would continue to ban oil drilling off Florida’s coastline. Why is it important that the drilling moratorium be extended?
MOODY: This is important to every Floridian. There is a moratorium in place right now. This would codify that moratorium that was put in place when President Trump was first in office.
I went to the floor and tried to pass this unanimously. Sen. (Rick) Scott stood by my side. We both argued for that, and we’ll continue to do that. Florida’s coastlines are one of our most valuable resources. Not only do we want to preserve it for environmental reasons and make sure that we are good stewards of our natural resources, but it’s a huge economic driver.
ALSO READ: Florida's congressional delegation asks Trump to stop new offshore oil drilling
Everyone knows that people come to Florida for our weather, our beautiful beaches and all that it has to offer. It’s a major economic driver, and we need to do everything that we can to make sure that it is protected.”
Q: You’ve spent years talking about the dangers of illegal drugs, while working to arrest people who sell drugs and get help for Floridians who are addicted. Why are you passionate about this issue?
MOODY: I am a mom. I have known many people across the state of Florida who have lost loved ones to drugs. Many times, they didn’t even know they were taking a deadly dose of fentanyl.
It’s not just my prior work as a prosecutor, a judge, the attorney general, or the wife of a law enforcement officer. It is because I am involved with our children and our families on a daily basis. I’ve seen the havoc that drugs have wreaked in our communities.
I am so proud of our accomplishments in Florida. We have really set the bar on how to tackle the crisis. We are dealing with something, in terms of numbers and deaths, that we have never seen historically in the United States.
When Nancy Reagan first said, “Just Say No,” we were losing around 3,000 people a year, nationwide, to overdoses. Now, we are losing over 100,000 people every year. I have no doubt that there are foreign adversary nation-states that know this is happening and are adding fuel to that, because it is, in fact, having an effect on working, fighting-age Americans that we love. We have to be aggressive.
So, not only is it an international fight to make sure that other nation-states are complying and making sure we are dealing with the supply, but we have to make sure our borders are secure. Even trickling down into our communities, our law-enforcement men and women were asked to do more than they ever have.
Not only are they now fighting a surge of drugs like we’ve never seen, and a deadly drug like fentanyl that we’ve never seen, but we are also asking them to be the first responders that are saving lives on the scene, and to be equipped with the drugs that do that. It has really had an impact on our law enforcement.
We’ve tackled making sure they had the tools and education they needed, that we gave them the resources to go after the cartels and the drug traffickers and that we were encouraging and providing resources for those that were dependent and needed to get help. That three-prong approach was incredibly important. I think that’s why Florida saw a drop in our deaths at a faster clip than the national pace.
I’m proud to say that we had a record reduction again last year in fentanyl deaths. I am taking that same mindset and that same commitment to protecting our families to Washington.
Q: If you hadn’t become a lawyer, prosecutor, judge, Florida’s attorney general and a U.S. senator, what other career path would you have considered going into?
MOODY: I would have a lot more time to nag my husband, that is for sure. I am sure he would like that. I would probably have stayed in some sort of organization that allowed me to help serve communities.
If you look at the things I have been drawn to throughout my career, and I am so grateful to God for giving me so many opportunities to serve, I am drawn by that.
If you look back when I was just starting out as a lawyer, I worked as a business lawyer. At night, I would go sit in the courthouse and help victims of domestic violence fill out petitions to help them get protection from those that were abusing them. Over my lunch hour, I would go read at elementary schools to kids in poor-performing schools and bring them lunch.
So, my guess is that if it hadn’t gone in a formalized governmental route, where I got to really use not only my experience and education in a way that fulfilled a passion to serve, I’d probably still be doing something the same. O
f course, I am the wife of a law-enforcement officer. I’ve worked with law enforcement in many capacities over the course of my career. So, who knows. Maybe I would have ended up going into law enforcement. But it wouldn’t shock me if, in terms of protecting, helping or supporting our communities, I’d have stayed in service but maybe more in a private way.
