Ron DeSantis plans to appoint Attorney General Ashley Moody to fill Sen. Marco Rubio’s Senate seat

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced at a press conference Thursday that he was appointing Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody to fill Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) Senate seat, which he is vacating to serve as President-elect Donald Trump’s Secretary of State. Trump announced Rubio as his pick to head the State Department in mid-November, and Florida’s senior senator is expected to sail through his confirmation process, being generally viewed as well-liked among his Senate colleagues and far less controversial than some of Trump’s other nominees. As governor, DeSantis has the power to appoint a replacement for Rubio’s seat until a special election is held in 2026. Earlier in the process, there were reports that Trump was pressuring DeSantis to pick his daughter-in-law and former Republican National Committee chair, Lara Trump, but she withdrew her name in December. After serving in the Florida House, including a term as Speaker, Rubio was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010, and then re-elected in 2016 and 2022. He ran for president in 2016 but lost to Trump in the primary.