Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, who started her career as a prosecutor in the office Lopez oversees and who was recently selected by President-elect Donald Trump to lead the U.S. Justice Department, helped administer the oath of office to Lopez. She was joined by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, a former Tampa judge.

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday named state Attorney General Ashley Moody to the US Senate, choosing a staunch ally to fill the seat set to be vacated by Marco Rubio, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of state.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) will resign his seat upon his confirmation as Secretary of State, which gave Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) a decision on who to appoint.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has tapped the state’s Republican attorney general, Ashley Moody, to replace Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) in the Senate following his nomination to serve as

Moody, the state's attorney general, is Gov. Ron DeSantis’ pick to replace U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, who is poised to be the next Secretary of State for President-elect Donald J. Trump. The move is the latest in a carousel of seat hopping among Florida Republicans as Trump leaned heavily on Sunshine State hires to staff his incoming administration.

Moody, a Tampa Bay area native, has been Florida’s attorney general since 2019. She'll hold Rubio's seat until the 2026 election.

Ashley Moody, Florida's attorney general, was selected by Gov. Ron DeSantis to replace Marco Rubio in the U.S. Senate.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed the person set to replace Marco Rubio in the U.S. Senate — Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody. Rubio is undergoing his confirmation hearing for secretary of state this week in Washington and if confirmed, his seat would become vacant.

Gov. Ron DeSantis’ announcement that he’s appointing Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Marco Rubio places the 49-year-old Plant City native in an exotic locale far from home.

Thursday on the RealClearPolitics radio show -- weeknights at 6:00 p.m. on SiriusXM's POTUS Channel 124 and then on Apple, Spotify, and here on our website -- Andrew Walworth, Tom Bevan, and RCP senior elections analyst Sean Trende start with a review last night's prime-time address by President Joe Biden about his legacy and accomplishments.

Moody isn’t the state’s only AG to use the office as a stepping stone to a national post. Her predecessor, Pam Bondi, is Trump’s pick to lead the Justice Department and is testifying Thursday in the Senate.