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 a third consecutive term.

2018 Florida Attorney General election

← 2014 November 6, 2018 2022 →

Nominee Ashley Moody Sean Shaw Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 4,232,532 3,744,912 Percentage 52.11% 46.10%

County results Congressional district results Precinct results Moody:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Shaw:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Tie:      40–50%      50%      No votes

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

Republican candidate Ashley Moody defeated Democrat Sean Shaw in the election on November 6, 2018, at 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Withdrawn

• Jay Fant, state representative^[4]
• Ross Spano, state representative (withdrew to run for U.S. House)^[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 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

• Florida Chamber of Commerce^[46]
• Florida Police Benevolent Association^[47]
• Maggie's List^[48]

Newspapers

• Miami Herald^[49]

Frank White

U.S. representatives

• Jeff Miller, former U.S. representative (FL-01)^[50]
• 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)^[51]
• Mel Ponder, state representative (R-Destin^[51]
• Cyndi Stevenson, state representative (R-St. Johns)^[40]
• Jennifer Sullivan, state representative (R-Mount Dora)^[40]
• Jayer Williamson, state representative (R-Pace)^[51]

Mayors and other municipal officials

• Larry Ashley, Okaloosa County sheriff^[34]
• Jeff Bergosh, Escambia County commissioner^[52]
• Lenny Curry, mayor of Jacksonville^[33]
• Matt Dannheisser, mayor of Gulf Breeze^[52]
• Homer "Gator" Deloach, Putnam County^[53]
• Graham Fountain, Okaloosa County commissioner^[52]
• Ashton Hayward, mayor of Pensacola^[52]
• Bob Johnson, Santa Rosa County sheriff^[52]
• Carolyn Ketchel, Okaloosa County commissioner^[52]
• David Morgan, Escambia County sheriff^[52]
• Grover Robinson, Escambia County commissioner^[52]
• David Shoar, St. Johns County sheriff^[53]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Ashley Moody	Frank White	Undecided
Gravis Marketing[54]	August 21–25, 2018	579	± 4.1%	35%	32%	33%
Gravis Marketing[55]	August 21–22, 2018	321	± 5.5%	34%	31%	35%
St. Pete Polls[56]	August 3–4, 2018	1,755	± 2.3%	28%	39%	33%
St. Pete Polls[57]	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^[58]
• Ryan Torrens, attorney^[59]

Declined

• Mitchell Berger, attorney^[60]
• José Javier Rodríguez, state senator (running for FL-27)^[61][62]
• Katherine Fernandez Rundle, Miami-Dade State Attorney^[63]
• Jack Seiler, Mayor of Fort Lauderdale^[64]
• Rod Smith, former state senator, former chair of the Florida Democratic Party, candidate for governor in 2006 and nominee for lieutenant governor in 2010^[61]
• Ryan Yadav, attorney and 2016 State House candidate^[65]

Endorsements

Sean Shaw

Former U.S. executive branch officials

• Joe Biden, 47th vice president of the United States^[66]

U.S. senators

• Bob Graham, 38th governor of Florida and former U.S. senator from Florida^[67]

Statewide officials

• Alex Sink, former Chief Financial Officer of Florida, Democratic nominee for governor in 2010, Democratic nominee for U.S. House in 2014^[68]

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^[69]
• Florida Police Benevolent Association^[47]
• Florida Professional Firefighters^[70]
• Florida Young Democrats^[71]

Ryan Torrens

State legislators

• John Cortes, State Representative (D-Kissimmee)^[72]
• Amy Mercado, State Representative (D-Orlando)^[73]
• 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^[74]

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[75]	October 23–26, 2018	1,048	± 3.0%	47%	40%	<1%	13%
Gravis Marketing[76]	October 22–23, 2018	773	± 3.5%	46%	42%	–	11%
Schroth, Eldon & Associates (D-EDGE Comms.)[77]	October 17–20, 2018	600	± 4.0%	43%	37%	–	20%
Cherry Communications[78]	September 19–24, 2018	622	± 4.4%	33%	35%	—	20%
Public Policy Polling (D-EDGE Comms.)[79]	August 29–30, 2018	743	–	44%	41%	–	15%
Public Policy Polling (D-EDGE Communications)[80]	June 18–19, 2018	1,308	—	35%	40%	—	25%
Anzalone Liszt Grove (D-Sean Shaw)[81]	May 31 – June 6, 2018	1,204	—	36%	41%	2%	21%
Public Policy Polling[82]	April 10–11, 2018	661	—	34%	33%	—	34%

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Frank White (R)	Sean Shaw (D)	Other	Undecided
Anzalone Liszt Grove (D-Sean Shaw)[81]	May 31 – June 6, 2018	1,204	—	36%	40%	3%	21%
Public Policy Polling[82]	April 10–11, 2018	661	—	32%	33%	—	34%

Hypothetical polling

with Frank White

Results

2018 Florida Attorney General election

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 Siskind	145,296	1.79%	N/A
Total votes			8,122,740	100.0%	N/A
	Republican hold

By county

County[83][84]	Ashley Moody Republican	Sean Shaw Democratic	Jeffrey Siskind Independent
Alachua	43,897	67,657	1,957
Baker	8,777	1,605	94
Bay	46,313	15,458	1,100
Bradford	7,791	2,423	171
Brevard	168,379	105,093	5,639
Broward	220,278	467,982	10,266
Calhoun	3,531	947	81
Charlotte	55,028	28,427	1,921
Citrus	49,669	19,026	1,704
Clay	66,401	24,791	1,484
Collier	102,682	49,363	1,761
Columbia	17,568	6,726	362
DeSoto	5,874	2,802	153
Dixie	4,741	937	84
Duval	189,329	180,292	5,930
Escambia	77,109	48,501	2,403
Flagler	32,053	19,483	960
Franklin	3,449	1,759	122
Gadsden	6,642	13,042	192
Gilchrist	6,095	1,148	92
Glades	2,690	1,032	73
Gulf	4,300	1,426	118
Hamilton	2,942	1,530	47
Hardee	4,712	1,547	107
Hendry	5,332	3,289	148
Hernando	52,218	26,090	1,749
Highlands	27,231	11,587	701
Hillsborough	258,082	251,985	8,672
Holmes	5,921	732	102
Indian River	46,247	25,807	1,240
Jackson	10,744	4,956	169
Jefferson	3,992	3,138	115
Lafayette	2,355	415	39
Lake	96,282	54,686	2,957
Lee	179,082	101,425	4,992
Leon	53,398	81,881	2,379
Levy	12,496	4,259	239
Liberty	2,014	566	48
Madison	4,413	3,084	69
Manatee	96,918	61,755	3,305
Marion	98,396	52,779	2,391
Martin	49,112	25,817	1,386
Miami-Dade	307,638	457,283	15,408
Monroe	18,411	16,196	768
Nassau	32,320	10,323	511
Okaloosa	61,090	20,351	1,743
Okeechobee	7,946	3,008	193
Orange	186,732	273,906	8,667
Osceola	47,031	64,603	2,236
Palm Beach	246,796	323,380	10,091
Pasco	129,854	76,248	4,217
Pinellas	228,560	193,229	9,056
Polk	142,971	95,766	4,076
Putnam	19,067	8,375	472
Santa Rosa	57,320	16,078	1,723
Sarasota	117,001	88,462	3,751
Seminole	101,735	90,718	3,851
St. Johns	85,912	41,200	2,104
St. Lucie	61,426	59,140	2,266
Sumter	53,435	19,716	813
Suwannee	12,393	3,244	212
Taylor	5,964	1,847	70
Union	3,857	912	67
Volusia	130,511	91,437	4,538
Wakulla	9,858	3,985	268
Walton	23,222	6,407	527
Washington	6,999	1,850	146
Total	4,232,532	3,744,912	145,296

By congressional district

Moody won 15 of 27 congressional districts, including one that elected a Democrat.^[85]

District	Moody	Shaw	Representative
1st	69%	29%	Matt Gaetz
2nd	68%	31%	Neal Dunn
3rd	58%	41%	Ted Yoho
4th	64%	34%	John Rutherford
5th	37%	62%	Al Lawson
6th	59%	39%	Ron DeSantis
			Mike Waltz
7th	48%	50%	Stephanie Murphy
8th	61%	37%	Bill Posey
9th	47%	51%	Darren Soto
10th	39%	60%	Val Demings
11th	67%	31%	Daniel Webster
12th	61%	37%	Gus Bilirakis
13th	51%	47%	Charlie Crist
14th	45%	53%	Kathy Castor
15th	57%	42%	Dennis Ross
			Ross Spano
16th	56%	42%	Vern Buchanan
17th	65%	33%	Tom Rooney
			Greg Steube
18th	55%	43%	Brian Mast
19th	64%	34%	Francis Rooney
20th	18%	81%	Alcee Hastings
21st	40%	58%	Lois Frankel
22nd	41%	57%	Ted Deutch
23rd	37%	61%	Debbie Wasserman Schultz
24th	17%	82%	Frederica Wilson
25th	58%	40%	Mario Díaz-Balart
26th	46%	51%	Carlos Curbelo
			Donna Shalala
27th	45%	53%	Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
			Debbie Mucarsel-Powell

See also

• Florida Attorney General