TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - With Attorney General Pam Bondi barred from running for another term, former Hillsborough County Circuit Judge Ashley Moody and state Rep. Frank White are locked in an expensive and personally contentious Republican primary fight as they seek to replace her.
White, a freshman legislator who is an executive at chain of family-owned auto dealerships, has used his personal wealth to fire shots at Moody. Among other things, the Pensacola lawmaker has charged that Moody isn’t a fully committed Republican, as she once registered as a Democrat and her family sued President Donald Trump nearly a decade ago for fraud.
Moody, a former prosecutor who stepped down as a judge in April 2017 after just over a decade in the position, has described White as a “car salesman turned politician” with no prosecutorial experience.
Moody professes support for Trump and has received backing from much of the party establishment in the Aug. 28 primary, with Bondi being one of her early supporters.
But Aubrey Jewett, a political-science professor at the University of Central Florida, said White’s ability to self-fund --- $2.77 million of White’s own money has gone into the race, plus at least $438,000 more tied to the Sansing auto dealership and family--- has allowed the liberal depictions of Moody to reach ears statewide.
“I originally thought Moody sounded like she may be able to take this thing,” Jewett said. “But being the regular establishment favorite doesn’t mean much anymore. It all seems to be where you stand with Donald Trump (more) than anything else. And clearly, White, from his ads, is trying to depict Moody as not Trump enough.”
White repeatedly points out that Moody initially registered to vote, while a
