Florida Attorney General election, 2018 (August 28 Republican primary)

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Florida Attorney General
Democratic primary Republican primary General election
Election details
Filing deadline: June 22, 2018
Primary: August 28, 2018 General: November 6, 2018 Pre-election incumbent(s): Pam Bondi (Republican)
How to vote
Poll times: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Voting in Florida
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Former circuit court judge Ashley Moody defeated state Rep. Frank White in the Republican primary for attorney general. Moody received 57 percent of the vote to White's 43 percent.

White and Moody competed for a chance to succeed term-limited Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi (R). With the candidates expressing similar views on a number of policy issues including taxes, abortion, gun restrictions, and government regulations, the race was characterized by criticisms of one another's ideological backgrounds and experience.^[3]

Moody faced claims from White that she was not an ideological fit for the party, with one White mailer arguing that Moody was "running as a Republican on a record of a liberal."^[4]

Moody responded that she is a Republican who supports President Donald Trump. White countered by pointing to contributions Moody made to gubernatorial candidate Bill McBride (D) in 2002 and her registration as a Democrat when she was a teenager. He also pointed to a 2009 lawsuit in which Moody represented family members seeking refunds for deposits paid on condos in the Trump Tower Tampa project, which was not completed. Moody held that the lawsuit did not pertain to her politics.^[5][6]

Moody argued that White did not have the courtroom experience to serve as attorney general.^[5] She released a campaign ad in which one Florida sheriff said that White had never prosecuted a case and another called him "a car salesman turned politician."

White responded to such criticisms by saying that his experience in the private sector would enable him to reduce regulations on businesses and improve Florida's economy.^[7]

Moody was backed by outgoing Attorney General Pam Bondi in addition to state Senate President Joe Negron (R) and state Senate Majority Leader Wilton Simpson (R), among others.

White endorsers included U.S. Rep. John Rutherford (R), former U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller (R), and Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry (R).

State Rep. Jay Fant was also running and had received the backing of over a dozen state legislators, but he withdrew on June 19 to apply for the Office of Financial Regulation Commissioner. State Rep. Ross Spano withdrew in April to run for Florida's 15th Congressional District.^[8]

The primary election took place on August 28, 2018. The winner competed in the November 6, 2018, attorney general election.

Candidates and election results

Ashley B. Moody defeated Frank White in the Republican primary for Attorney General of Florida on August 28, 2018.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Attorney General of Florida

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ashley B. Moody	56.8	882,028
		Frank White	43.2	670,823

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,552,851
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Candidate profiles

Ashley B. Moody

Prior to her election to the 13th Judicial Circuit Court, Moody served as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Florida. Her experience also includes work as an associate for the law firm Holland & Knight LLP, an assistant to the president of the American Bar Association, and an adjunct professor for Stetson University College of Law.^[9]

Moody earned a B.S. in accounting, a master's degree in accounting, and a J.D. from the University of Florida. She also earned a master of laws degree in international law from Stetson University College of Law.

Moody's campaigning focused on adhering to the Constitution, the rule of law, reducing government spending, and addressing opioid overdose.^[10] She was endorsed by Attorney General Pam Bondi, Former Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R), and Maggie's List, among others.

Frank White

White was first elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2016. His professional experience includes working as the chief financial officer and general counsel for the Sansing Dealer Group. He also practiced as an attorney at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. White graduated from the Southern Methodist University School of Law.^[11]

White's campaign highlighted defending the Constitution, promoting a free market, opposing abortion, supporting the Second Amendment, and lowering taxes as priorities.^[12] He was endorsed by Rep. John Rutherford (R) and Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry, among others.

Timeline

• August 4, 2018: A St. Pete Poll showed White with 39 percent support to Moody's 28 percent, with 33 percent undecided.
• July 11, 2018: A St. Pete Poll showed White with 26 percent support to Moody's 19 percent; 55 percent were undecided.
• June 19, 2018: State Rep. Jay Fant dropped out of the race.
• May 1, 2018: Florida State Sen. President Joe Negron (R) endorsed Ashley Moody.
• April 18, 2018: State Rep. Ross Spano withdrew from the race to run for Florida's 15th Congressional District.^[8]
• February 3, 2018: The Federalist Society held a debate for the candidates where Fant and White brought attention to Moody's past associations with the Democratic Party and Moody and Spano criticized Fant and White for their lack of courtroom experience.
• January 5, 2018: A poll from St. Pete Polls showed that 69 percent of voters were undecided in the race. Moody had 10.1 percent support, while Jay Fant had 9 percent, Ross Spano had 6.3 percent, and White had 5.4 percent.
• November 7, 2017: U.S. Rep. John Rutherford (R-Fla.) announced that he was supporting state Rep. Frank White in the race.
• June 11, 2017: Ashley Moody was endorsed by sitting Attorney General Pam Bondi (R) shortly after announcing she would run to replace term-limited Bondi in 2018.

Endorsements

Campaign finance

These campaign finance figures were current through August 22, 2018:^[31]

These figures are for political committees know to be affiliated with the candidates. The figures were current through August 22, 2018:

These figures came from Florida's campaign finance database: expenditures and contributions.

Self-funding

Frank White loaned $2.75 million to his campaign through August 22.

Public matching funds

Through August 17, Moody had received $335,313 in public matching funds.^[32] Florida's program matches contributions of $250 or less from Florida residents.^[33]

Campaign themes and policy stances

Ashley Moody

The following was found on Moody's campaign website.

Frank White

The following was found on White's campaign website.

Campaign strategies and tactics

Campaign finance criticisms

Moody and White took different approaches to fundraising, and they criticized one another's routes. Frank White primarily self-funded, loaning more than $2.7 million to his campaign. Moody participated in Florida's public matching funds program, which matches contributions from Florida residents of $250 or less. Through August 17, she received $335,313 from the program.

In June, White sent out a mailer criticizing Moody for requesting public matching funds. The mailer suggested that this was inconsistent with her expressed support for reducing wasteful government spending, stating that she requested "hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer money from government for political ads." Christina Johnson, a spokesperson for Moody's campaign, said in response to the mailer, "The public campaign finance program was established for this purpose—to combat the self-funding of a candidate running for statewide office with absolutely no experience or qualifications for the office they are seeking."^[37]

Dueling attacks: "soft on child predators" vs. "uniquely unfit to serve"

In mid-July, White's political committee United Conservatives sent out a mailer that read, "Liberal Judge Ashley Moody is soft on child predators." The mailer claimed that, as a judge, Moody gave a reduced sentence to someone convicted of possessing and distributing child pornography and that, as a prosecutor, she asked for a reduced sentence for another man with similar convictions.^[38]

The first accusation referred to a case Moody presided over in 2004, in which she cited the 16-year-old defendant's age as a reason for giving a reduced sentence; the second referred to a case in which the defendant pleaded guilty, which, according to the Tampa Bay Times, requires prosecutors to recommend a lower offense level for sentencing.^[6]

The Moody campaign responded to the mailer by releasing a letter signed by nine state attorneys saying that White's "most recent attack against Ashley Moody only underscores his lack of understanding or qualifications to be the top prosecutor in Florida." The attorneys stated that "it has become increasingly clear that not only is Ashley Moody the only one qualified to be our next Attorney General, but that Frank White is uniquely unfit to serve."^[39]

Questioning of Moody's ideological leanings

Jay Fant and Frank White said that Moody was liberal-leaning. Moody was previously registered as a Democrat, but she withdrew her registration in 1999.^[40]

In December 2017, Fant tried to have Moody banned from a meeting of the state Republican Party based on his suspicions that she was not a Republican.

White sent out mailers alleging that Moody was a Democrat and he set up the website Liberaljudge.com making similar allegations.^[5]

Moody emphasized her Republican credentials, saying she voted for Donald Trump in 2016 and would favor conservative positions on guns and sanctuary jurisdictions. She said she registered as a Democrat as a teenager because her father "was likely a Democrat. … When I figured out my own policies and beliefs, I switched."^[41]

Feb. 3 Federalist Society forum and aftermath

At a forum held by the Federalist Society on February 3, 2018, Fant pointed to Moody's family's involvement in a 2009 fraud lawsuit against The Trump Organization, her employment by Democratic American Bar Association President Martha Barnett, and her donations to Democrat Bill McBride in his 2002 gubernatorial run against Jeb Bush (R) as evidence that she was a Democrat. Moody responded to the charge about the Trump lawsuit by saying it "has nothing to do with me being a conservative or me supporting our president and his conservative agenda." She also said that Fant's remarks were not worthy of the office of attorney general.^[5]

Following the forum, Fant sent out a letter saying that Moody had not made her positions on gun policy and property clear and that she made an anti-gun decision as a judge with respect to the state's "Stand your ground" law. At the end of the letter he said, “Therefore, I challenge you to agree to a Second Amendment debate.”

Moody responded by saying, "You do not understand ‘Stand Your Ground’ as it existed then or now, criminal law, or how to try a case. This is not surprising since you have never actually tried a case, prosecuted anyone, nor really practiced law."^[42]

Responses to school shooting in Parkland, Florida

On February 14, 2018, there was a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Using an AR-15 rifle, former student Nikolas Cruz killed 17 students and staff members.

On February 19, Jay Fant tweeted, "We can’t let [Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum] and the DC liberals win. The Parkland killer has taken away enough from us. Let’s not let this tragedy take away our right to bear arms too." He then tweeted, "Of course [Gillum] is using the DC liberal playbook to capitalize on a tragedy to push a gun control agenda. No surprise there." Gillum called for gun restrictions after the shooting occurred.^[43]

On February 23, Ross Spano and Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd released a set of policy recommendations to respond to the shooting. The recommendations included provisions related to mental health and an expansion of a program that would allow certain teachers and administrators to carry weapons on the school's campus.^[44]

Fant opposed a gun bill that passed the Florida Legislature and was signed by Gov. Rick Scott (R) in early March 2018. The bill included provisions that increased the minimum age for buying rifles from 18 to 21 and created a program that would allow some school employees to carry guns. Fant said he opposed the legislation for putting limits on guns.^[45]

On March 1, Fant held a mock debate between himself and Ashley Moody on Facebook Live. Moody did not accept Fant's invitation to attend. The event stemmed from a pre-Parkland challenge that Fant gave to Moody about debating the Second Amendment.

During the Facebook Live event, Fant said that Moody had not issued a public statement on the Parkland shooting or a statement on Broward County Sheriff Steve Israel, who Fant called on to resign due to criticisms that his department did not do enough to prevent the Parkland shooting.

Moody issued a statement after the event that said, “I would urge my opponent to stop grandstanding, and while respecting our Second Amendment, find solutions to prevent mentally deranged individuals and criminals from harming our children. We must protect those we love, and that means we must continue learning from Parkland, uncovering all the facts of what happened, so this never happens again."^[46]

Courtroom experience of candidates

Ashley Moody and Ross Spano said that Frank White and Jay Fant did not have the courtroom experience necessary to be attorney general. Moody previously served as a judge while Spano was a litigator. Fant was an attorney for his family's financial services company while White was the general counsel and chief financial officer of a chain of auto dealerships.

At a forum held by the Federalist Society on February 3, 2018, Spano pointed out his record as a litigator and contrasted it with Fant. Fant replied, “This is the attorney general position, not the solicitor position.”

When Moody asked White if he had served as lead counsel on a case that went to a jury verdict, he said that there were “many paths to be an effective attorney general.”^[40]

Position on voting rights for felons

Moody and White opposed Florida Amendment 4, the Voting Rights Restoration for Felons Initiative, which was on the ballot in November 2018. Amendment 4 was designed to automatically restore the right to vote for people with prior felony convictions, except those convicted of murder or a felony sexual offense, upon completion of their sentences.

Both candidates also said they supported an effort by Attorney General Pam Bondi and Gov. Rick Scott (R) to defeat a federal lawsuit that would require an overhaul of Florida's process for restoring the voting rights of felons. As of 2018, the process required felons to wait five to seven years after their sentences ended before they could apply for restoration.

Jay Fant's campaign did not respond to requests from the News Service of Florida to lay out his positions on felons' voting right.^[47]

Campaign advertisements

Ashley Moody

Support

Ashley Moody's campaign released its first digital ad on July 15, 2018.

Opposition

Frank White

Support

Opposition

Polls

See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls

Noteworthy events

White's Truth Test ad

The week before the primary, White released an ad based on a "Truth Test" segment that aired on Orlando TV station WESH. The segment fact-checked White's campaign ad claiming that Moody sued President Trump for fraud and has been a lifelong Democrat.

The WESH segment said that White's claim about Moody suing Trump for fraud was true but that his claim that the lawsuit, filed in 2009 and settled in 2012, helped Hillary Clinton was false. The segment said it's true that "Moody was first a registered Democrat" but deemed White's claim that she is a lifelong Democrat false, noting that she became a Republican in her 20s. View the segment here.

White's ad used edited footage from the WESH segment. The ad showed the WESH reporter saying it was true that Moody sued Trump and that she was a registered Democrat. The word "first" was edited out of the reporter's quote that "Moody was first a registered Democrat."

On August 23, the Tampa Bay Times published an article about the ad entitled, "Watch the most misleading campaign ad so far this year," criticizing the White campaign's editing of WESH's footage.^[49]

On August 24, White released a revised ad that replaced the word "first" in the WESH reporter's quote about Moody being registered as a Democrat.

Watch the original ad here and the revised version here.

Florida's News Channel 8 contacted the campaigns for comment. White's campaign spokesperson Erin Isaac said the following:^[50]

A spokesperson from Moody's campaign responded to News Channel 8 with the following:

Media coverage

Brian Burgess, The Capitolist (April 23, 2018):

Race background

Heading into the election, the sitting attorney general was Pam Bondi (R), who was first elected in 2010 and was re-elected in 2014.

Bondi was prevented by term limits from seeking a third term in 2018.

At the time of the election, Florida was under a Republican trifecta. It has held this status since Gov. Rick Scott (R) took office in 2011. Heading into the 2018 elections, Florida is a Republican triplex, which means the Republican Party controls the governorship and the offices of attorney general and secretary of state.

Past elections

2014

See also: Florida attorney general election, 2014

Pam Bondi ran for re-election as attorney general of Florida in the 2014 election. Bondi was unopposed in the Republican primary.^[52] She won the general election with 55 percent of the vote.

Attorney General of Florida, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Pam Bondi Incumbent	55.1%	3,222,524
	Democratic	George Sheldon	42%	2,457,317
	Libertarian	Bill Wohlsifer	2.9%	169,394
Total Votes				5,849,235
Election results via Florida Division of Elections

2010

Pam Bondi was first elected as attorney general in 2010. She defeated Jeff Kottkamp and Holly Benson in a closely contested Republican primary before going on to win the general election with about 55 percent of the vote.

2010 Race for Attorney General - General Election[53]
Party		Candidate	Vote Percentage
	Republican Party	a Pam Bondi	54.8%
	Democratic Party	Dan Gelber	41.4%
	Independent	Jim Lewis	3.8%
Total Votes			5,263,392

Voter information

How the primary works

A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Florida utilizes a closed primary process, in which the selection of a party's candidates in an election is limited to registered party members.^{[54][55][56][57]}

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.

Poll times

In Florida, all polls are open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. An individual who is in line at the time polls close must be allowed to vote. Florida is split between Eastern and Central time zones.^[58]

Registration requirements

Check your voter registration status here.

To vote in Florida, one must be at least 18 years of age, a citizen of the United States, and a legal resident of Florida and the county in which he or she intends to vote. Pre-registration is available beginning at 16 years of age.^[59][60]

Voters may retrieve registration applications at the following locations:^[59]

• Local elections offices
• Public assistance agencies
• Disability services agencies
• Independent living centers
• Military recruitment offices
• Public libraries

A registration form is also available online. The form can be printed and submitted via mail.^[60]

Automatic registration

Florida does not practice automatic voter registration.

Online registration

See also: Online voter registration

Florida has implemented an online voter registration system. Residents can register to vote by visiting this website.

Same-day registration

Florida does not allow same-day voter registration.

Residency requirements

To register to vote in Florida, you must be a resident of the state. State law does not specify a length of time for which you must have been a resident to be eligible.

Verification of citizenship

See also: Laws permitting noncitizens to vote in the United States

Florida does not require proof of citizenship for voter registration.

Verifying your registration

The page Voter Information Lookup, run by the Florida Department of State, allows residents to check their voter registration status online.

Voter ID requirements

Florida requires voters to present photo identification with a signature while voting.^[61][62]

The following list of accepted ID was current as of April 2023. Click here for the Florida Secretary of State's page on accepted ID to ensure you have the most current information.

• Florida driver’s license
• Florida identification card issued by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
• United States passport
• Debit or credit card
• Military identification
• Student identification
• Retirement center identification
• Neighborhood association identification
• Public assistance identification
• Veteran health identification card issued by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs
• License to carry a concealed weapon or firearm issued pursuant to s. 790.06
• Employee identification card issued by any branch, department, agency, or entity of the federal government, the state, a county, or a municipality

A voter who presents an ID without a signature must show a second form of identification that includes the voter’s signature.

Early voting

Florida permits early voting. Learn more by visiting this website.

Early voting permits citizens to cast ballots in person at a polling place prior to an election. In states that permit no-excuse early voting, a voter does not have to provide an excuse for being unable to vote on Election Day. States that allow voters to cast no-excuse absentee ballots in person are counted as no-excuse early voting states.

Absentee voting

All voters are eligible to vote by mail in Florida. There are no special eligibility requirements for voting by mail.^[63]

To vote by mail, an application must be received by election officials at least ten days prior to the election. A returned ballot must then be received by election officials by 7:00 p.m. on Election Day.^[63]

Pivot Counties

See also: Pivot Counties by state

Four of 67 Florida counties—6 percent—are Pivot Counties. Pivot Counties are counties that voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and for Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 Pivot Counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states.

In the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump (R) won Florida with 49 percent of the vote. Hillary Clinton (D) received 47.8 percent. Florida was considered a key battleground state in the 2016 general election. In presidential elections between 1900 and 2016, Florida voted Democratic 56.67 percent of the time and Republican 43.33 percent of the time. Florida went to the Republicans in 2000, 2004, and 2016, and it went to the Democrats in 2008 and 2012.

Presidential results by legislative district

The following table details results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections by state House districts in Florida. Click [show] to expand the table. The "Obama," "Romney," "Clinton," and "Trump" columns describe the percent of the vote each presidential candidate received in the district. The "2012 Margin" and "2016 Margin" columns describe the margin of victory between the two presidential candidates in those years. The "Party Control" column notes which party held that seat heading into the 2018 general election. Data on the results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections broken down by state legislative districts was compiled by Daily Kos.^[64][65]

See also

External links

Suggest a link

• Attorney General of Florida official website

Footnotes

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