Election 2022: Ayala challenges incumbent Attorney General Moody

TALLAHASSEE — Democratic challenger Aramis Ayala may be trailing incumbent Republican Ashley Moody in the race for Florida attorney general, who has a double-digit lead in polls and millions of dollars to spend against the former Orange-Osceola state attorney, but she isn’t giving up.

Ayala said she hopes her support among women and minorities will give her a fighting chance as she casts herself as an advocate for the people of Florida instead of the interests of the governor and corporations, which she says Moody has done.

“As state attorney, I made sure the voices of all people were heard inside the office where decisions are made,” Ayala said, vowing to do the same if elected attorney general on Nov. 8.

She criticized Moody for backing up DeSantis in his culture wars against “woke” corporations and restricting sex and gender instruction in schools, suing the Biden Administration, and defending his suspension of Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren.

“She’s been of service to the governor. She’s been of service to the people in power versus the people she’s supposed to be an advocate for,” Ayala said earlier this year.

The campaigns of Moody and Ayala didn’t return calls seeking comment for this article.

Polls show Moody has a 7- to 13-point lead over Ayala, but a Spectrum/Siena College poll found that Ayala has major support from women and Blacks. Women voters prefer Ayala over Moody 42% to 36%, and 69% of Black voters side with Ayala.

With the support of the Republican Party of Florida, Moody had raised $2.9 million for her campaign as of Sept. 23. Her political committee, Friends of Ashley Moody, which has no limit on individual contributions, had collected $11.65 million.

Ayala has raised $147,000 with virtually no support from the state Democratic Party. She’s received contributions from Ruth’s List and endorsements and support from several liberal and progressive political committees, including the Collective PAC, Higher Heights, and Jane Fonda Climate PAC.

Ayala, 47, became the first Black state attorney in Florida when she was elected in 2016. She served from 2017-21. Before that, she was an assistant public defender for 10 years fighting for the rights of the innocent and making sure all accused had proper representation.

Ayala received harsh blowback from law enforcement and then-Gov. Rick Scott when she announced she would not seek the death penalty against Markeith Loyd, who was convicted of killing Orlando police Lt. Debra Clayton.

Scott reassigned death penalty cases to another state attorney, and DeSantis followed suit. Lloyd was subsequently sentenced to death in March.

Moody, also 47, was a federal prosecutor and circuit court judge before beating Democrat Sean Shaw for attorney general in 2018. Her father is a federal judge appointed by President Bill Clinton, and her brother is a Florida circuit judge appointed by DeSantis.

She brought Florida into a constitutional challenge to the Affordable Care Act, opposed the legalization of recreational marijuana and opposed the restoration of voting rights to felons who have completed their sentence.

She urged the federal government to drop its case against Trump associate Michael Flynn, who had pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. She was one of Trump’s biggest surrogates in Florida during the 2020 election, and she joined other conservative state attorney generals in suing to have election results in several key states invalidated.

She also was on the board of directors of the Rule of Law Defense Fund, which has been linked to the Jan. 6 insurrection and storming of the Capitol. Moody could not be reached for comment for this story.

Moody has not agreed to debate Ayala, apparently because she doesn’t consider her a worthy opponent.

“When you are seeking the office of attorney general, you need to do so with full faith,” Moody told reporters at a news conference last month. “I would like to have discussions with those who are serious about being an attorney general [who] enforces the law.”

Complete election coverage can be found at OrlandoSentinel.com/election.