Aramis Ayala facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Aramis Ayala
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| State Attorney for the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida | |
| In office January 1, 2017 – January 1, 2021 |
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| Preceded by | Jeff Ashton |
| Succeeded by | Monique Worrell |
| Personal details | |
| Born | February 2, 1975 Saginaw, Michigan, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | David Ayala |
| Education | University of Michigan (BA) University of Central Florida (MS) University of Detroit (JD) |
Aramis Ayala (born February 2, 1975) is an American politician and lawyer. She served as the top prosecutor, known as the State Attorney, for the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida. This area includes Orange and Osceola counties in Florida. She was chosen for this role in November 2016 and worked as the chief prosecutor from 2017 to 2021. In 2019, Ayala decided not to run for re-election as state attorney.
Ayala later ran for Attorney General of Florida in 2022. She was the candidate for the Democratic Party but lost the election to the person who was already in office, Ashley Moody.
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Early life and education
Aramis Ayala was born in Saginaw, Michigan. She went to the University of Michigan and earned her first college degree there. After that, she studied law at the University of Detroit and became a lawyer.
Career
Serving as State Attorney
As State Attorney, Aramis Ayala made a decision not to seek the death penalty in any of her cases. This decision led to a disagreement with the Florida Governor Rick Scott. The governor then moved some cases that could have involved the death penalty to another State Attorney.
Ayala took legal action to challenge the governor's decision. She filed lawsuits in the Supreme Court of Florida and in federal court. However, the Supreme Court of Florida decided against Ayala. The court ruled that the governor had the power to take cases away from her. This was because her decision not to consider the death penalty in any case meant she was not using her judgment for each specific case.
In July 2017, a video became widely seen online. It showed two police officers stopping Ayala's car. Some people thought this stop might have been due to racial profiling. Ayala asked for the officers' information during the stop. However, she later stated that the stop seemed to follow Florida law and did not take further legal action.
Running for office in 2022
In May 2021, Aramis Ayala announced her plans to run for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. She was aiming to represent Florida's 10th congressional district in the 2022 elections. She had thought about running for the U.S. Senate first. But she decided to run for Congress after the person who held that seat, U.S. Representative Val Demings, announced she would run for the U.S. Senate.
Later, Ayala changed her mind again. She decided to run for Attorney General of Florida instead. In the general election for Attorney General, she ran against the current Attorney General, Ashley Moody. Ayala lost this election by a large difference in votes.
2022 Attorney General election results
The Republican Attorney General, Ashley Moody, ran for re-election in 2022. She was challenged by Aramis Ayala, who was the Democratic candidate. Ashley Moody won the election against Aramis Ayala. Moody received about 60.6% of the votes, while Ayala received about 39.4%.
