Key Florida Senate Race Has Been Called
Florida Sen. Ashley Moody, the former state attorney general appointed to fill the vacancy left by Marco Rubio’s elevation to secretary of state, has emerged as a leading conservative voice in the U.S. Senate and a strong contender in the 2026 special election to keep the seat.
Moody easily defeated Chris Gleason, Neelam Perry, and Ernie Rivera, but the race was widely regarded as noncompetitive.
Moody has had “minimal opposition,” and current coverage treats her as the overwhelming favorite for the Republican nomination.
On January 16, 2025, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced he was selecting Moody to succeed Rubio, who resigned after his unanimous Senate confirmation as President Donald Trump’s secretary of state.
“Today I am proud to announce that I am selecting our attorney general, Ashley Moody, to serve as our next U.S. senator,” DeSantis said at an Orlando news conference.
DeSantis praised her as a “law and order” leader ready to help Trump “secure and shut the border,” rein in inflation, and overhaul a federal bureaucracy “run amok.”
Moody was sworn in on January 21, 2025, by Vice President JD Vance, becoming only the second woman to represent Florida in the Senate—the first since Republican Paula Hawkins in the 1980s.
Under Florida law, the Republican governor fills Senate vacancies, and Moody will serve through a special election in 2026 for the remainder of Rubio’s term (ending January 3, 2027), with the winner then facing voters again in 2028.
DeSantis simultaneously tapped his chief of staff, James Uthmeier, to succeed her as attorney general.
Moody’s path to the Senate reflects a deep conservative pedigree rooted in law enforcement and constitutional principles.
Born March 28, 1975, in Plant City—the “Winter Strawberry Capital of the World”—she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting plus a J.D. from the University of Florida, and an LL.M. in international law from Stetson University.
She began as a commercial litigator at Holland & Knight, then served as an assistant U.S. attorney prosecuting drug, firearm, and fraud cases.
In 2006, at age 31, she became Florida’s youngest circuit court judge, serving the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit in Hillsborough County until 2017.
Elected Florida’s 38th attorney general in 2018, Moody took office in January 2019 and quickly became a national conservative leader.
She repeatedly sued the Biden administration over open-border policies, COVID mandates, student loan forgiveness, and efforts to undermine state sovereignty on issues like parental rights and biological sex in sports.
As chair of Florida’s Statewide Council on Human Trafficking, she cracked down on predators. She secured historic multibillion-dollar opioid settlements from Big Pharma, supported and recruited law enforcement officers, defended the Second Amendment, and protected the unborn and religious liberty.
During Trump’s first term, she served on the Presidential Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice.
DeSantis highlighted her “impressive resume” and “demonstrated record of delivering results” on immigration, noting she would join the “enforcement caucus, not the amnesty caucus.”
Moody has described her mission simply: “America first. Get it done.”
Upon her appointment, she pledged to “fight for President Trump to deliver the ‘America First’ agenda on Day One.”
Her Senate work has focused on border security, rule of law, and Florida’s military and veterans priorities; she later joined the Armed Services Committee, drawing on her military family background.
As she campaigns to hold the seat in the August 18, 2026, Republican primary and November special election, Moody has amassed a powerful roster of endorsements from the conservative movement’s heavyweights.
President Trump gave her his “Complete and Total Endorsement.”
“SHE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN,” Trump said, praising her work to grow the economy, cut taxes and regulations, secure the border, stop migrant crime, strengthen the military, and defend the Second Amendment.
Fellow Florida Sen. Rick Scott called her a “fearless leader.”
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville, the Republican Party of Florida, the National Rifle Association, the Senate Conservatives Fund, the Florida Chamber of Commerce, and all 15 Republican state attorneys in Florida have also backed her.
Law enforcement groups, including sheriffs and the Florida Police Benevolent Association, have lined up solidly behind the former prosecutor and AG who always stood with the thin blue line.
BREAKING: Dolly Parton’s Cause Of Death Revealed: ‘Brief Battle’
Dolly Parton’s death came after a brief battle with cancer, her representatives revealed Tuesday.
The country music legend died Aug. 25 at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville. She was 80.
Parton had been admitted to the cancer center Friday, four days before her death. Her representatives confirmed the cancer diagnosis in a statement to PEOPLE but did not disclose what type she had.
“Our beloved Dolly Parton spent her life and career bringing joy, laughter, hope and integrity into everything she touched. Her unmatched generosity reached the lives of countless people whom she would never meet, yet she was always there to offer a helping hand,” the statement read.
“Whether it be the hundreds of millions of books donated through her invaluable Imagination Library or funding research that helped create a lifesaving vaccine used around the world, Dolly’s unconditional love for all people was the guiding force for her lasting impact. After bravely facing a brief battle with cancer, Dolly departed her Earthly life today at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center surrounded by loved ones,” the statement concluded.
The “Jolene” singer had also been dealing with kidney and autoimmune issues before her death, PEOPLE previously reported.
Just days earlier, Dolly Parton opened up about her declining health and acknowledged that she had put off addressing some medical issues while caring for her husband, Carl.
“As I’ve shared in video messages throughout the past year, I am dealing with some health issues that I just didn’t pay attention to when I was watching over [my husband] Carl. You know, this isn’t the first time I’ve had to manage something like this. Back in the early ’80s, I was down for several months with female issues, and I was struggling with my weight at the time too, so it’s not like I haven’t been through hard times with my health,” Parton told PEOPLE.
Her nephew, Bryan Seaver, announced her death in an Instagram video Tuesday on behalf of the Parton and Owens family.
“My name is Bryan Seaver, son of Cassie Parton, and I’m representing the Parton and Owens family today announcing the passing of my aunt, Dolly Rebecca Parton Dean, Sister, Sis and Granny to one generation and Gigi to the next,” he says in the video.
Seaver, who served as Parton’s head of security for more than two decades, said she had asked him years earlier to deliver the announcement.
“This video announcement is something Dolly asked of me years ago, before I fully absorbed it as a future reality,” he continued. “As her head of security for more than two decades, a role my father Larry held before me, I have imagined the heaviness of this moment but haven’t truly felt it until now.”
Seaver said the moment brought immense pride and heartbreak, but he took comfort in his faith that Parton had been reunited with Carl and other loved ones.
Seaver added: “It is an honor, an honor that is mixed with absolute pride and great sadness. But sadness lies with us, not with Dolly. Dolly has lived in the light and is in the arms of Jesus, surely met by Carl, her parents and countless othe
