Ashley Moody was asked a simple question at a campaign stop in Indian Rocks Beach on Monday, October 19: what does she say to people who think she avoids the press?
"That is hogwash," Moody told WMNF, the Tampa Bay community radio station. "I have been all over this state talking to the media, talking to you right now."
She promised she would "keep talking to the media and answering these questions so I can make sure every Floridian knows" how different she is from her Democratic opponent, Angie Nixon.
The next question was about Flock cameras. Moody's team immediately ushered her away. Her security detail physically blocked the WMNF reporter from following her.
Moody and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, who held the rally with her, spoke to reporters for under six minutes.
The question she wouldn't take
Flock cameras are license-plate readers that police use to track where cars go. They have drawn criticism from both parties over privacy and abuse. Just recently, a Pinellas County deputy was arrested for allegedly using a Flock camera database to search for a love interest, WMNF reports.
Moody has never taken a public position on Flock cameras. There's a reason Floridians might want one. Her husband, Justin Duralia, is deputy chief of the Plant City Police Department. He was sworn in at an investiture ceremony on July 8, 2024, and introduced to the city commission that same evening — at the meeting where the commission approved a contract with Flock, 4–0, according to the Plant City Observer.
Moody's team didn't answer a follow-up email asking for her position.
Not the first time
Moody doesn't take questions in the halls of the Capitol the way most senators do, WMNF notes. She sticks to small events and friendly outlets like Fox News — the approach Politico described in August, when Republican operatives warned it could hurt candidates further down the ballot. Florida Democrats have turned it into a slogan: "Where is Ashley Moody?"
She has walked away from a reporter before. When CBS4 Miami's Jim DeFede asked her about the Hope Florida scandal, she walked off after taking no questions at a press conference.
That scandal is the biggest thing voters might want to ask her about. A leaked grand jury report accused the state of buying political ads with $10 million that was supposed to help disabled Floridians through the Hope Florida charity, WMNF notes. As attorney general, Moody signed off on the deal that moved the money — and won't say why.
What happened
On October 19, Ashley Moody called claims that she avoids the press "hogwash" and said she would keep "answering these questions." Moments later, when a WMNF reporter asked about Flock surveillance cameras, her team ushered her away and her security blocked the reporter from following. She has never stated a position on Flock cameras, which Plant City's commission approved the same evening her husband was sworn in there as deputy police chief.
Source
WMNF: Ashley Moody says she's not avoiding the press, then walks away during Flock camera question
