Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody has been chosen to succeed Marco Rubio in the Senate, though she may not have a glide path to the nomination come 2026.

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Moody as his pick on Thursday, with Rubio expected to easily be confirmed as President-elect Trump’s Secretary of State next week.

The appointment of Moody caps off months of speculation, which included some senators urging the former Trump presidential opponent to pick the incoming president’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, for the vacancy.

Instead, DeSantis picked a longtime ally with conservative bona fides. He praised her record on illegal immigration, fighting COVID-19 restrictions, “law and order” and said she had “rejected DEI, ESG, gender ideology, and supported our efforts to ensure Florida’s education is free from impositions of the radical left.” As attorney general, she fought to keep an abortion rights amendment off the Florida ballot last fall (it failed after not getting to 60%) and supported using state funds to advertise in opposition. She also signed onto lawsuits in 2020 to block the presidential election results after Trump

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