Drew Wilson
Republican Attorney General candidate Ashley Moody picked up endorsements from two more county sheriffs Friday and now has the support of the top cops in a third of Florida counties.
Bradford County Sheriff Gordon Smith and Washington County Sheriff Kevin Crews added their names to a list that already includes a score of other sheriffs, including those from Bay, Brevard, Clay, Hernando, Indian River, Lake, Pasco, Pinellas, Sarasota, Sumter, Walton and other counties.
“When it comes to the security of our state, we don’t need a politician. We need a trusted, conservative leader who has spent a lifetime in service to the law. That is why I support and endorse former prosecutor and Circuit Court Judge Ashley Moody for Attorney General. She has the drive, commitment, and most importantly, the experience needed to keep our state safe,” Smith said.
Crews also highlighted Moody’s experience, adding that Moody is the only candidate in the field that is a “qualified, seasoned, and effective conservative.”
“Her life experience not only as a federal prosecutor and judge, but as the wife of a federal law enforcement officer and a mother, gives her a unique perspective that combines compassion and strength. Ashley Moody is the right person at the right time for Florida. I wholeheartedly support her candidacy and am proud to endorse her to be Florida’s next Attorney General,” he said.
Moody was grateful for the endorsements of both sheriffs, and lauded Smith for his decades-long career in law enforcement and Crews for his “long history of combating drug offenders that profit off the pain of our communities.”
Moody is leading in endorsements among an expanding primary field to take over for termed-out Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Moody and Jacksonville Rep. Jay Fant were the only two GOP candidates in the mix for a few months before Pensacola Rep. Frank White threw his name into the hat last month. On Thursday, Hillsborough County Rep. Ross Spano made it a four-way primary.
Moody had a similar lead in the money race before White made a splash in his first-month report, released earlier this week.
Bolstered by $1.5 million of his own money, White had $1.73 million on hand in his campaign account to begin November, putting him ahead of Moody, who through the same date had about $920,000 in her campaign account and another $207,000 in her committee, Friends of Ashley Moody.
Fant had about $910,000 on hand to start November, including $750,000 in loans, while Spano joined the race with about $44,000 on hand from his House re-election campaign.
