Gov. DeSantis is nominating his choice to replace Marco Rubio in the US Senate

Ashley Moody will soon move from the Florida Cabinet to the US Senate.

Moody, the state's attorney general, was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis replaces US Senator Marco Rubio, who may be the next Secretary of State for President-elect Donald J. Trump.

DeSantis made the announcement at a news conference Thursday in Orlando.

The moves are the latest in a carousel of seat-jumping among Florida Republicans as Trump leans heavily on Sunshine State recruits to serve his incoming administration.

Moody, 49, who became Florida's second woman attorney general in 2019 when she succeeded Pam Bondi, will also be the second woman to represent Florida in the US Senate. Paula Hawkins, a Republican, served one term, from 1981 to 1987, but lost her re-election bid to Democrat Bob Graham.

A former federal prosecutor and district court judge, Moody has roots in Florida's legal atmosphere. He graduated from the University of Florida School of Law in 2001. His father, James Moody Jr., is a US District Court judge for the Middle District of Florida who was appointed by former President Bill Clinton.

After graduating from law school, Moody joined the firm of Holland & Knight before running for and winning the 13th District Court judgeship in Hillsborough in 2006. His brother, James Moody III, was appointed to the same court by DeSantis in 2022.

In 2018 he resigned to run for Attorney General, defeating former state Rep. Frank White, a Pensacola Republican, in the primary and another state representative, Democrat Sean Shaw of Tampa, in the general election.

Moody has been a close friend of Trump, supporting his legal challenges to the certification of election results in several states in 2020 when he lost the election to Biden, for example. The challenges were dismissed by the courts.

That record suggests he would be a reliable vote on Trump's agenda in the Senate, taking over immigration enforcement — one of DeSantis' demands for a Senate nominee.

When he was introduced to the upcoming Senate position shortly after the election in November, DeSantis wrote in X:

“Florida deserves a Senate that will help President Trump carry out his electoral mandate, be tough on immigration and border security, take on a centralized government and administration, reverse the state's fiscal deficit, be ethical, and have a proven track record. of results.”

This is a developing news story. Check back later for more.

Gray Rohrer is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network-Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at grohrer@gannett.com. Follow him on X: @GrayRohrer.

This article originally appeared in the Tallahassee Democrat: DeSantis names Ashley Moody to replace Marco Rubio in the US Senate.