Florida GOP won’t ban Moody from party meeting

TALLAHASSEE — Florida’s Republican Party says it is staying out of an effort by one of its attorney-general candidates to paint a competitor as a Clinton liberal.

Rep. Jay Fant, R-Jacksonville, sent a letter to Republican Party of Florida Chairman Blaise Ingoglia asking the party boss to ban Ashley Moody from the GOP’s January meeting because she’s “a true liberal and proud of it.”

“The 2018 election ballot is absolutely critical from top to bottom, and we simply cannot waste time with candidates who have to hide their past involvement with the Clintons in order to win,” he wrote.

The campaign of Moody, a former Hillsborough County circuit judge, dismissed Fant’s salvo with return fire.

“It is laughable that a candidate running to be Florida’s chief legal officer would offer up such erroneous and egregious attacks on the proven record of a former and well respected federal prosecutor and circuit court judge,” Moody campaign spokeswoman Christina Johnson said.

Fant, who trails Moody in fundraising, accused Moody of having close ties to the Clinton family. Her father was appointed by Bill Clinton to the federal bench.

Ingoglia said he was having none of the primary infighting.

“All Republicans running for statewide office are welcome to attend RPOF meetings,” Ingoglia responded in an emailed statement. “We will not, and should not, interject ourselves in the middle of primaries. Nor should the RPOF become the arbiter of a candidate’s conservative credentials. If Rep. Fant thinks this will resonate with the electorate, then take it directly to the primary voters.”

Moody, who has the backing of term-limited Attorney General Pam Bondi, has amassed a finance team that’s a veritable GOP who’s who, including influential lobbyist Brian Ballard.

The Republican primary for attorney general also features state Rep. Frank White of Pensacola and Rep. Ross Spano of Dover.