Florida Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Angie Nixon said Wednesday that her Republican opponent, Sen. Ashley Moody (R-FL), should be “locked up and punished in jail,” escalating a campaign already marked by sharp personal attacks.
Appearing on CNN’s “The Arena” with host Kasie Hunt, Nixon accused Moody of diverting $10 million meant for a children’s Medicaid program into what she called “two political slush funds” used to help Gov. Ron DeSantis defeat two citizen-led ballot initiatives. Nixon also said Moody “voted to end healthcare for over 440,000 people” in Florida.
“The fact remains that Ashley Moody is a lying, cheating, thieving, scamming person, who basically took $10 million from sick kids for the Medicaid program,” Nixon said. “And she rerouted that into two political slush funds for Ron DeSantis to defeat two citizen-led ballot initiatives.”
Nixon argued the attacks are warranted because she says Moody’s campaign has spread “disinformation and lies” claiming Nixon wants to “abolish prisons” and “defund the police.”
“Why would I want to do that when I want her locked up and punished in jail for what she has done?” Nixon said.
When Hunt pressed her directly — “You want your Republican opponent locked up?” — Nixon did not back away.
“Yeah, basically, yes. Because of what she did. Yes. I absolutely would want that to happen. Yes.”
Asked by Hunt whether she believes there is enough evidence to justify such a punishment, Nixon pointed to a grand jury report she says was sealed by Florida’s First District Court of Appeal.
“What we have seen is that the DCA, the first DCA here, has decided to wipe out the release of the grand jury report,” Nixon said. “And that first DCA judge was actually appointed by Ron DeSantis. And what we are seeing is corruption through and through.”
Nixon said that if elected to the Senate, she would push for a federal investigation into the matter. “People are pissed off,” she said. “We don’t know how many children are potentially going to die because that $10 million did not go to where it was supposed to go to.”
The exchange underscores how combative the Florida Senate race has become, with both campaigns trading accusations of corruption and dishonesty ahead of the election. Nixon’s claims against Moody have not been independently verified in the source interview, and no formal charges or findings against the senator were cited.
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