But as with other contests this year for state Cabinet seats, the race between Ayala and Moody is an undercard to elections for governor and U.S. Senate and has made few waves.

During a news conference last month, Moody dismissed the idea of debating Ayala, saying she'd prefer "discussions with those that are serious about being an attorney general that enforces the law, indeed, and works with law enforcement."

Ayala, 47, drew attention in 2016 when she became the state's first Black elected state attorney, winning in the 9th Judicial Circuit in Orange and Osceola counties. She defeated two opponents in the Aug. 23 Democratic primary for attorney general and said the state's chief legal officer should fight for all Floridians, not to support DeSantis' political ambitions and Republican "cultural wars."

"This past legislative session, I just saw the trampling on our rights. The conversations were becoming extremely harsh towards the people we should be serving," Ayala said. "And I realized that you can't sit and say nothing. … And that's the job of the attorney general, to be an advocate, to provide for justice and get cover. And we were completely uncovered this entire legislative session, from voting rights to 'don't say gay,' to the attack on teachers, all the way through the attack on women."

University of Central Florida political-science professor Aubrey Jewett, who described Ayala as a "real longshot," said being progressive helped Ayala win the state attorney's race in 2016 but puts her out of step with many Floridians.

"Even if Florida Democrats at the top of the ticket do better than expected, or even win, it is difficult to imagine they will have coattails long enough to help Ayala beat Moody," Jewett said. "Ayala's best hope would be if a majority of Florida voters thought that some of the cases that Moody has gotten involved with — including supporting Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's effort to overturn Joe Biden's election — were too extreme. But in the present Florida political climate, that does not seem likely."

As state attorney, Ayala created a firestorm by saying she would not seek the death penalty, in part pointing to racial inequities in death sentences.

Then-Gov. Rick Scott removed Ayala from handling capital cases. Ayala challenged the decision, but the Florida Supreme Court backed Scott. Ayala did not seek re-election in 2020.

When asked how she would handle the death penalty as attorney general, Ayala pointed to creation of a statewide conviction integrity unit to investigate claims of innocence.

"We're spending $51 million every single year in the state of Florida, and we are leading the nation in Death Row exonerations, meaning we get it wrong the most," Ayala said. "It is incumbent upon us to make certain, number one, that we're getting it right. With statewide conviction integrity, that would be the starting place for that, as well as to ensure that if we're going to proceed with a death penalty, that they are the proper use of resources and that we are encouraging public safety and we're deterring crime."