2018 Florida Attorney General election

The 2018 Florida Attorney General election took place on November 6, 2018, to elect the Attorney General of Florida. Incumbent Republican Attorney General Pam Bondi was term-limited and could not seek re-election to a third consecutive term.

2018 Florida Attorney General election

November 6, 2018

Nominee Ashley Moody Sean Shaw Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 4,232,532 3,744,912 Percentage 52.1% 46.1%

County Results Moody:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Shaw:      50–60%      60–70%

Attorney General before election Pam Bondi Republican Elected Attorney General Ashley Moody Republican

Republican candidate Ashley Moody defeated Democrat Sean Shaw, with the election being called after 93% of the precincts reporting.[1] Moody won by about 6 percentage points, which was the widest margin of any Florida statewide race in 2018.

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

• Ashley Moody, former judge of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida[2]
• Frank White, state representative[3]

Withdrawn

• Ross Spano, state representative (withdrew to run for Congress)[4]
• Jay Fant, state representative[5]

Declined

• Rob Bradley, state senator[6]
• Richard Corcoran, Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives[6][7]
• Ron DeSantis, U.S. Representative and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2016 (running for governor)[8]
• José Félix Díaz, former state representative and 2017 State Senate candidate[9]
• Matt Gaetz, U.S. Representative[10][11]
• Tom Grady, Florida Board of Education member and former state representative[12][13]
• Simone Marstiller, former judge of the Florida First District Court of Appeal and former Florida Associate Deputy Attorney General[14][15]
• Bill McCollum, former attorney general, former U.S. Representative, candidate for governor in 2010[16]
• Joe Negron, president of the Florida Senate and nominee for FL-16 in 2006[6][17][18]
• Tom Rooney, U.S. Representative[6][19][20]
• David Simmons, state senator[21]
• Dana Young, state senator[6]

Endorsements

Ashley Moody

U.S. Representatives Lincoln Díaz-Balart, former U.S. Representative (FL-21)[22] Matt Gaetz, U.S. Representative (FL-01)[23] Statewide officials Pam Bondi, Attorney General of Florida[24] State legislators Clay Ingram, State Representative (R-Pensacola)[25] Tom Lee, State Senator (R-Brandon)[26] Joe Negron, State Senator (R-Stuart), President of the Florida Senate[27] Wilton Simpson, State Senator (R-Spring Hill)[26] Jay Trumbull, State Representative (R-Panama City)[25] Dana Young, State Senator (R-Tampa)[26] Mayors and other municipal officials Mike Adkinson, Walton County Sheriff[25] Phil Archer, 18th Judicial Circuit State Attorney[28] Paul Blackman, Highlands County Sheriff[29] David Borrero, Sweetwater City Commissioner[30] Ed Brodsky, 12th Judicial Circuit State Attorney[28] William Cervone, 8th Judicial Circuit State Attorney[28] Chad Chronister, Hillsborough County Sheriff[31] Angelina "Angel" Colonneso, Manatee County Clerk of Court[30] Bruce Colton, 19th Judicial Circuit State Attorney[28] Victor Crist, Hillsborough County Commissioner[32] Daryl Daniels, Clay County Sheriff[33] Henry Dean, St. Johns County Commissioner[30] John Drew, Nassau County Tax Collector[30] William O. Farmer, Jr., Sumter County Sheriff[34] Tommy Ford, Bay County Sheriff[35] Peyton C. Grinnell, Lake County Sheriff[34] Bob Gualtieri, Pinellas County Sheriff[36] Brian Haas, 10th Judicial Circuit State Attorney[28] Ken Hagan, Hillsborough County Commissioner[32] Darrell Harris, Hendry County Commissioner[30] Mike Harrison, Gulf County Sheriff[37] Pamm Henderson, Mayor of Callaway[30] Glenn Hess, 14th Judicial Circuit State Attorney[28] Michael Hickox, Nassau County Property Appraiser[30] Al Higginbotham, Hillsborough County Commissioner[32] Mark Hunter, Columbia County Sheriff[31] Bill Husfelt, Bay County Superintendent of Schools[30] Wayne Ivey, Brevard County Sheriff[38] Melody Johnson, Volusia County School Board Member[30] Grady Judd, Polk County Sheriff[39] Ed Helley, Volusia County Councilman[30] Brad King, 5th Judicial Circuit State Attorney[28] Bill Kinsaul, Bay County Clerk of Court[30] Tom Knight, Sarasota County Sheriff[34] Arnold Lanier, Hardee County Sheriff[29] R.J. Larizza, 7th Judicial Circuit State Attorney[40] Bill Leeper, Nassau County Sheriff[29] Deryl Loar, Indian River County Sheriff[41] Bernie McCabe, 6th Judicial Circuit State Attorney[28] Bobby McCallum, Levy County Sheriff[29] Bob McKee, Lake County Tax Collector[30] Alfred Kenneth "Mac" McNeill, Jr., Jefferson County Sheriff[31] Jared Miller, Wakulla County Sheriff[29] Sandy Murman, Hillsborough County Commissioner[32] Tod Neville, St. Augustine City Commissioner[30] Al Nienhuis, Hernando County Sheriff[34] Chris Nocco, Pasco County Sheriff[36] Wayne Padgett, Taylor County Sheriff[42] Marion Poitevint, Gilchrist County Commissioner[30] Kevin Rambosk, Collier County Sheriff[43] Rick Ramsay, Monroe County Sheriff[44] Scotty Rhoden, Baker County Sheriff[29] Bobby Schultz, Gilchrist County Sheriff[29] Rhonda Skipper, Walton County Tax Collector[30] A.J. Smith, Franklin County Sheriff[34] William Snyder, Martin County Sheriff[42] George Spicer, Nassau County Commissioner[30] Ben Stewart, Madison County Sheriff[29] Francis X. Suarez, Mayor of Miami[22] Justin Taylor, Nassau County Commissioner[30] Mike Thomas, Mayor of Panama City Beach[30] William Truex, Charlotte County Commissioner Dennis Ward, 16th Judicial Circuit State Attorney[28] Mike Williams, Duval County Sheriff[45] Steve Whidden, Hendry County Sheriff[44] Stacy White, Hillsborough County Commissioner[32] Organizations Maggie's List[46] Florida Police Benevolent Association[47] Newspapers Miami Herald[48]

Frank White

U.S. Representatives Jeff Miller, former U.S. Representative (FL-01)[49] John Rutherford, U.S. Representative (FL-04)[33] State legislators Cord Byrd, State Representative (R-Neptune Beach)[40] Neil Combee, former state representative (R-Polk County)[40] Brad Drake, State Representative (R-Eucheeanna)[50] Mel Ponder, State Representative (R-Destin[50] Cyndi Stevenson, State Representative (R-St. Johns)[40] Jennifer Sullivan, State Representative (R-Mount Dora)[40] Jayer Williamson, State Representative (R-Pace)[50] Mayors and other municipal officials Larry Ashley, Okaloosa County Sheriff[34] Jeff Bergosh, Escambia County Commissioner[51] Lenny Curry, Mayor of Jacksonville[33] Matt Dannheisser, Mayor of Gulf Breeze[51] Homer "Gator" Deloach, Putnam County[52] Graham Fountain, Okaloosa County Commissioner[51] Ashton Hayward, Mayor of Pensacola[51] Bob Johnson, Santa Rosa County Sheriff[51] Carolyn Ketchel, Okaloosa County Commissioner[51] David Morgan, Escambia County Sheriff[51] Grover Robinson, Escambia County Commissioner[51] David Shoar, St. Johns County Sheriff[52]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Ashley Moody	Frank White	Undecided
Gravis Marketing	August 21–25, 2018	579	± 4.1%	35%	32%	33%
Gravis Marketing	August 21–22, 2018	321	± 5.5%	34%	31%	35%
St. Pete Polls	August 3–4, 2018	1,755	± 2.3%	28%	39%	33%
St. Pete Polls	July 10–11, 2018	1,387	± 2.6%	19%	26%	55%

Results

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ashley B. Moody	882,028	56.8
	Republican	Frank White	670,823	43.2
Total votes			1,552,851	100.0

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

• Sean Shaw, state representative[53]
• Ryan Torrens, attorney[54]

Declined

• Mitchell Berger, attorney[55]
• José Javier Rodríguez, state senator (running for FL-27)[56][57]
• Katherine Fernandez Rundle, Miami-Dade State Attorney[58]
• Jack Seiler, Mayor of Fort Lauderdale[59]
• Rod Smith, former state senator, former chair of the Florida Democratic Party, candidate for governor in 2006 and nominee for lieutenant governor in 2010[56]
• Ryan Yadav, attorney and 2016 State House candidate[60]

Endorsements

Sean Shaw

Former U.S. Executive Branch officials Joe Biden, 47th Vice President of the United States[61] U.S. Senators Bob Graham, 38th Governor of Florida and former U.S. Senator from Florida[62] Statewide officials Alex Sink, former Chief Financial Officer of Florida, Democratic nominee for Governor in 2010, Democratic nominee for U.S. House in 2014[63] Mayors and other municipal leaders Dave Aronberg, 15th Judicial Circuit State Attorney Jack Campbell, 2nd Judicial Circuit State Attorney Andrew Warren, 13th Judicial Circuit State Attorney Organizations Florida Education Association[64] Florida Professional Firefighters[65] Florida Young Democrats[66] Florida Police Benevolent Association[47]

Ryan Torrens
State legislators John Cortes, State Representative (D-Kissimmee)[67] Amy Mercado, State Representative (D-Orlando)[68] Victor M. Torres Jr., State Senator (D-Orlando)[25]

Results

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Sean Shaw	1,031,640	73.8
	Democratic	Ryan Torrens	367,053	26.2
Total votes			1,398,693	100.0

Independents

Candidates

• Jeffrey Siskind, attorney[69]

General election

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Ashley Moody (R)	Sean Shaw (D)	Other	Undecided
University of North Florida	October 23–26, 2018	1,048	± 3.0%	47%	40%	<1%	13%
Gravis Marketing	October 22–23, 2018	773	± 3.5%	46%	42%	–	11%
Schroth, Eldon & Associates (D-EDGE Comms.)	October 17–20, 2018	600	± 4.0%	43%	37%	–	20%
Cherry Communications	September 19–24, 2018	622	± 4.4%	33%	35%	—	20%
Public Policy Polling (D-EDGE Comms.)	August 29–30, 2018	743	–	44%	41%	–	15%
Public Policy Polling (D-EDGE Communications)	June 18–19, 2018	1,308	—	35%	40%	—	25%
Anzalone Liszt Grove (D-Sean Shaw)	May 31 – June 6, 2018	1,204	—	36%	41%	2%	21%
Public Policy Polling	April 10–11, 2018	661	—	34%	33%	—	34%

Results

Florida Attorney General election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Republican	Ashley Moody	4,232,532	52.11%	-2.99%
	Democratic	Sean Shaw	3,744,912	46.10%	+4.09%
	Independent	Jeffrey Marc Siskind	145,296	1.79%	N/A
Total votes			'8,122,740'	'100.0%'	N/A
	Republican hold

See also

• Florida Attorney General

References

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4. March, William (April 16, 2018). "State Rep. Ross Spano plans to skip AG race, run for House seat Dennis Ross is leaving". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
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61. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-10-21. Retrieved 2018-10-21.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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64. Mower, Lawrence (June 8, 2018). "Sean Shaw receives educators' endorsement in AG's race". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
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67. Conroy, Kathrine (August 10, 2017). "Rep. John Cortes Endorses Torrens for Attorney General". Orlando Political Observer. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
68. Derby, Kevin (August 15, 2017). "Democrats in the Legislature Back Ryan Torrens for Attorney General". Sunshine State News. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
69. Webb, Kristina (June 27, 2018). "Wellington lawyer, councilwoman's husband runs for attorney general". The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved July 8, 2018.

External links

Official campaign websites

• Sean Shaw (D) for Attorney General
• Ashley Moody (R) for Attorney General
• Jeffrey Marc Siskind (I) for Attorney General