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TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — During a stop in Tampa Bay on Thursday, U.S. Senator Ashley Moody was asked about President Trump’s push to eliminate mail-in voting as the country approaches the 2026 midterms.
“I highly doubt they’re referring to mail-in programs related to Florida,” Moody said.
Sen. Moody will be on the ballot for the 2026 U.S. Senate Special Election next year for voters to elect the person to serve the rest of Marco Rubio’s term, following his appointment as Secretary of State.
“As you know, there were all kinds of things that were raised over the last few years about the way other states were handling things,” Moody said.
The senator is referring to President Trump’s concerns about mail voting in other states, especially ones that wait to process and count absentee ballots.
When it comes to Moody’s challenger, so far, there’s Gen Z political activist Michaelangelo Collins Hamilton.
Under The Democratic Party, there’s business owner Alex Gould and former teacher and activist Tamika Lyles who have filed to run.
On Thursday, St. Pete resident Neelam Perry filed to run under no party affiliation.
There’s still time left for qualifying so names could be added or taken away.
While in Arcadia on Thursday, Gov. Ron DeSantis was also asked about Florida’s election following a report this week from conservative think tank James Madison Institute. The report called the state a gold standard in election administration.
“I’m always open to suggestions about what we can do better but out of all things people care about, cleaning the voter rolls, we did it. Voter ID, we did it,” DeSantis said.
Experts say President Trump will have hurdles to change election rules since the process is run by states.
The 2026 primary is next August, and the General Election is the following November.