Even in the face of massive losses in last week’s Midterm elections, Republicans had a few winners, and none may have longer-lasting effects than Sen. Ashley Moody of Florida who defied national trends for a GOP hold in the Sunshine State.
Going into Tuesday’s contests, holding a Senate seat in Florida may have seemed like the least Republicans could do, but it turned out to be a night where the least they could do was the most they did, and those who did win should be learned from.
“I fought tooth and nail this election to make sure Floridians know that what we have here is special, and it can be dismantled in one cycle,” Moody told Fox News Digital in the wake of the blue tsunami, and while that message faltered in states like Texas, in Florida it stuck.
Moody said her campaign held to two basic messages.
“Talking to folks on the ground and meeting them where they were was vital, and I heard many people from all political backgrounds present a consistent message – they want a government that is accountable and a government that protects their pursuit of the American Dream. I put that front and center in my campaign and Floridians backed me for it.”
Accountability and the American dream: These are two very good places to start as the GOP licks its wounds and seeks a path back to power on Capitol Hill having squandered both houses in this cycle.
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Many have been tempted to dismiss Moody’s victory by saying, “but it’s red Florida.” But red Texas turned bluer than the Gulf of America. So no, Florida did not carry Ashley Moody. Ashley Moody helped carry Florida.
Moody was twice elected statewide as attorney general, first in 2018 by low single digits, then in 2022 by a whopping 21% of the vote, and unlike Ken Paxton, the Texas AG who lost his Senate bid last week, Moody did not have a long resume of scandal to bog her down.
Moody also outperformed South Carolina Sen. Darlene Graham, who took over the seat of her late brother Lindsey Graham after he died earlier this year, a decision driven by President Donald Trump that many believe cost Republicans the Palmetto state seat.
Now, in the new Congress, Republicans will end up having lost between seven and nine seats. What this means for Moody is a fast track to seniority. With GOP Senate stalwarts like John Cornyn of Texas and Susan Collins of Maine having lost this cycle, Moody has jumped significantly ahead in line.
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Although Moody is just as much responsible for Republican success in Florida – which also included the election of Rep. Byron Donalds as governor – as Republican success in Florida is for Moody, one would be remiss not to mention current Gov. Ron DeSantis, the architect of the so-called ‘free state of Florida.”
DeSantis has built a GOP brand in Florida that is laser focused on the two issues Moody credited for her victory, government accountability and saving the American dream for the next generation.
DeSantis made his state a beacon for conservatives across America who came in droves from places like New York City, now, it may become a lighthouse, guiding a national Republican Party adrift at sea back to the shores of electoral victory.
Of the GOP wipeout, DeSantis said, “A lot of our voters who stayed home, they stayed home because they were frustrated with the lack of productivity from Republicans in the House and Senate. That’s just a fact. They were promised big things, and they didn’t deliver it.”
This is noticeably at odds with Vice President JD Vance’s theory of the loss, which states that GOP voters did in fact come out, but voted for Democrats, mainly because of the war in Iran and our nation’s relationship with Israel.
Figuring out which of these theories is true, or at least dominant, is the first order of business for Republicans looking to regroup, and it is worth noting that while the GOP lost Vance’s old Senate seat in Ohio, Moody held Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s Florida seat intact.
Vance and DeSantis may get the chance to pitch their visions of the GOP to Americans over the next two years in a presidential primary race, but in the meantime, the biggest Republican winner of the Midterm debacle is Ashley Moody, who suddenly looks like a force in American politics that we should all get used to.