New Ashley Moody ad explains why Attorney General is Florida’s ‘top cop’

Attorney General Ashley Moody often refers to herself as the state’s “top cop,” and a new ad buy with that title delineates some of what that title means.

The Moody re-election campaign rolled out the spot, which it described as a “significant advertising buy across a majority of the state’s 10 media markets.” The ad relies on third-person testimonials extolling Moody as “our Attorney General, our top cop.”

“I needed a protector,” contends a mother identified as Becca.

Deputy Sheriff Anthony needed a “prosecutor,” meanwhile. And Grandmother Hedy needed a “fighter.”

Moody fills those roles, and more, per the ad.

“Ashley Moody fought for me,” the narrators contend, lauding her for having “shut down scammers” and having “safeguarded seniors” as she “stood with law enforcement.”

“Moody even took Big Pharma to court and won,” the ad contends.

“She fights,” contends human trafficking survivor Savannah Parvu.

This ad may seem familiar. A Republican Party of Florida 3 PAC with Moody, CFO Jimmy Patronis and GOP Agriculture Commissioner nominee Wilton Simpson is airing with the same material under the title “Protector,” according to AdImpact.

That version of the ad has seen $140,000+ of the spend over the last three days, with more than $60,000 of that on broadcast in the Daytona/Melbourne/Orlando market, from which Moody’s Democratic opponent, former State Attorney Aramis Ayala, hails.

Moody has also run an ad called “Fought Back” since Sept. 27, which has seen over $262,000 of spend. More than half that expenditure has been in the Orlando market as well.

Moody has maintained a prohibitive cash edge over Ayala throughout the General Election campaign.

Even after moving $3 million to the Republican Party of Florida at the end of September, Moody still had more than $2.6 million in her Friends of Ashley Moody political committee as of Sept. 30. She also had more than $840,000 in her campaign account through that same date.

Ayala had slightly more than $30,000 on hand as of the end of September, a number boosted by more than $15,000 in contributions during the last week of the month.

Moody appears to be the favorite, at least according to a recent Spectrum News/Siena College Poll. She led Ayala in that survey 41% to 34%, with a 16-point lead among independent voters.