‘MAGA’ Moody Courts Clay Cops. Will She Run for Governor?

Loyal Servant of Former President, Foe of Legal Weed

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody at a recent Clay County event.

By SHELBIE GRAHAM

Last week, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody made a stop at the Clay County Sheriff’s Office for National Police Memorial Week.

According to Clay Today newspaper, Moody hand-delivered a proclamation signed by state officials including Gov. Ron DeSantis. She thanked local law enforcement for their service and gave props to Sheriff Michelle Cook and Judson Sapp, a candidate running for District 20 in the Florida House of Representatives.

As Florida’s top lawyer, Moody has championed “backing the blue.” She’s advocated for “law and order” and similar conservative causes. She was able to keep marijuana off the ballot in 2022 but was unable to do so again this year for Amendment 3, Marijuana Legalization Initiative (2024). She also unsuccessfully urged the state Supreme Court to keep Amendment 4, Right to Abortion Initiative (2024), off the ballot.

Moody was once a registered Democrat who was a plaintiff in a lawsuit against Donald Trump, specifically against the unfinished Trump Tower-Tampa. She made the switch to the Republican party in 1998 before entering politics, (ironically) on Jan. 6 of that year. As Florida’s attorney general, Moody has been described as “Trump’s biggest surrogate in the nation’s biggest swing state.”

Moody distanced herself from the Jan. 6 riots but committed Florida to help Trump’s attempts to overturn the presidential election. With 16 other state attorneys general, Moody signed an amicus brief which unsuccessfully demanded the U.S. Supreme Court to invalidate the election results in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. These were four specific states President Joe Biden won.

Moody was criticized for the move, especially after stating, “In my term as attorney general, I will never do the bidding of anyone except the people of the state of Florida.”

Well, she’s not entirely wrong. It’s just that she’s doing the bidding for one special Floridian resident with an address at the historic Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach. She defended Trump, attacked Pres. Joe Biden and the FBI after the Mar-A-Lago raid in 2022.

As Trump’s hush money case comes up to a close in New York, it is interesting to consider how Moody will react to the verdict or to the verdicts of the other cases lined up on Trump’s calendar in the near future. As someone who believes in “law and order,” will she continue to defend Trump even if he is found guilty?

What if President Joe Biden “steals” the 2024 election like last time? Will Florida be committed to another lawsuit?

Moody is up for reelection in 2026—and that’s if she decides to run again as attorney general. The Tampa Bay Times and other political commentators consider Moody to be a gubernatorial contender. While Gov. Ron DeSantis’ loyalty to Trump has wavered (following his unsuccessful bid for the Republican presidential nomination), Moody has been steadfast.

Will that loyalty be rewarded?