Staff Reports
Attorney General Ashely Moody is throwing her weight behind Rep. Nick DiCeglie as he eyes a move up to the Senate.
DiCeglie, who currently represents House District 66, is running to replace Sen. Jeff Brandes. Due to term limits, Brandes is not seeking re-election to his Senate District 24 seat, which will be renumbered Senate District 18 as part of redistricting.
Brandes has endorsed DiCeglie as his preferred successor.
“Nick DiCeglie works tirelessly to keep Florida free and protect the American Dream for all Floridians,” Moody said in a statement. “Nick stands strong to ensure our brave men and women in uniform have the resources they need to keep our communities safe and I am proud to support him.”
Moody’s endorsement adds to DiCeglie’s all-star cast of backers, including Gov. Ron DeSantis, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri and a host of state and local leaders.
“Ashley Moody is an incredible Attorney General — always fighting to reduce crime and increase the safety of our state for our residents,” DiCeglie said. “It is an honor to have the endorsement of someone so dedicated to helping the lives of others. I look forward to working alongside her as well as our law enforcement officers to improve our communities and keep Floridians safe.”
DiCeglie was first elected to the House in 2018. Prior to that, he served as Chair of the Pinellas County Republican Party. He also served two terms as Chair of the Clearwater Regional Chamber of Commerce, as a gubernatorial appointee to the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, and as a member of the Indian Rocks Beach Planning and Zoning Board.
The Republican lawmaker has owned Solar Sanitation, a waste management business, since 2001. The company services parts of unincorporated Pinellas County. It was named “Medium Sized Business of the Year” by the Clearwater Chamber. He lives in Indian Rocks Beach with his wife, Erica, and their two children.
DiCeglie currently Chairs the Insurance and Banking Subcommittee in the House and serves on the Commerce and Ways and Means committees, as well as the Local Administration and Veterans Affairs and Justice Appropriations subcommittees.
He faces Democrat Eunic Ortiz, a union organizer, in the November election.
The seat has a slight red lean. In 2020, 47% of voters in the district supported Democratic President Joe Biden, while 52% went to former Republican President Donald Trump. And DiCeglie has a wide money advantage. Last month, he had triple the cash on hand than Ortiz.
