Aramis Ayala (born February 2, 1975) is an American politician and prosecutor who was the state attorney for the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida. She was elected in November 2016, and served as the chief prosecutor from 2017 to 2021. In May 2019, Ayala stated that she would not seek re-election as state attorney. Ayala was the Democratic nominee in the 2022 Florida Attorney General election. Ayala lost the general election to incumbent

Ashley Moody Ashley Brooke Moody (born March 28, 1975) is an American politician, attorney, and former jurist serving since 2025 as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States senator from the state of Florida. A member of the Republican P ...

by a landslide.

Early life and education

Ayala was born in

Saginaw, Michigan Saginaw () is a city in Saginaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. It had a population of 44,202 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located along the Saginaw River, Saginaw is adjacent to Saginaw Charter Township, ...

, and graduated from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

with an undergraduate degree. She then obtained her

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

degree from the

University of Detroit The University of Detroit Mercy is a private Catholic university in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is sponsored by both the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and the Sisters of Mercy. The university was founded in 1877 and is the largest Catho ...

Career

State attorney

Ayala announced she would not seek

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

in any case, causing

Florida Governor The governor of Florida is the head of government of the U.S. state of Florida. The governor is the head of the executive branch of the government of Florida and is the commander-in-chief of the Florida National Guard and Florida State Gu ...

Rick Scott Richard Lynn Scott ( Myers; born December 1, 1952) is an American attorney, businessman, politician, and United States Navy, Navy veteran serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from the state of F ...

to reassign potential death penalty cases to another State Attorney. Ayala has filed lawsuits disputing this action in the

Supreme Court of Florida The Supreme Court of Florida is the state supreme court, highest court in the U.S. state of Florida. It consists of seven justices—one of whom serves as Chief Justice. Six members are chosen from six districts around the state to foster geog ...

, and in federal court. Ayala lost her Supreme Court case against Scott. The Supreme Court of Florida (with one dissent) ruled against Ayala, saying that the governor was within his power to take cases away from Ayala because of her position to abandon the death penalty in all cases before her and not to exercise her discretion in each individual case. In July 2017, a video of two police officers pulling over Ayala went viral, due to allegations of racial profiling. Ayala requested the officers' information during the encounter, but did not take any legal action, writing that the stop "appears consistent with Florida law."

2022 campaign

In May 2021, Ayala announced that she was running for Florida's 10th congressional district in

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

. Initially considering a run for the U.S. Senate, she decided to run for Congress after incumbent

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

Val Demings announced she would run for

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

against incumbent Republican

Marco Rubio Marco Antonio Rubio (; born May 28, 1971) is an American politician, lawyer, and diplomat serving since 2025 as the 72nd United States Secretary of State, United States secretary of state. A member of the Republican Party (United States) , Rep ...

. She later withdrew to run for

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

. Ayala lost the general election to incumbent

by a landslide.

2022 Attorney General election results

2022_Florida_attorney_general_election_results_map_by_county

Incumbent Republican attorney general

ran for reelection, being challenged by Democrat Aramis Ayala, a former state attorney. Moody defeated Ayala in the general election by a 20-point margin.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ayala, Aramis 1975 births 20th-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American lawyers African-American women lawyers 20th-century American women lawyers 20th-century African-American women politicians 20th-century American women politicians 21st-century African-American women politicians 21st-century African-American politicians 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American women lawyers Candidates in the 2022 United States elections Florida Democrats Living people People from Saginaw, Michigan State attorneys in Florida University of Detroit Mercy alumni University of Michigan alumni 21st-century African-American lawyers