(Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Wednesday voted 49-41 to confirm Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, a 33-year-old Jones Day associate, as a judge for the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida

Prior to joining Jones Day in Washington and Miami as an associate in November 2019, Mizelle clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas and three other federal judges, spent three years as a trial attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice's Tax Division, served as a federal prosecutor in Alexandria, Virginia, and was counsel to the U.S. associate attorney general.

Mizelle's nomination nevertheless drew opposition from civil rights groups on political grounds and a "not qualified" rating from most members of the American Bar Association committee that rates federal judicial nominations, which described her as too inexperienced.

She graduated from the University of Florida Levin College of Law eight years ago and had never tried a case as the lead or co-counsel when she was nominated to the bench. Her practice at Jones Day centers around appeals, complex civil and criminal litigation.

Mizelle garnered praise for her clerkships and other experience from U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida), who voted in favor of her nomination.

"By all accounts, Mizelle is an impressive nominee having served in various legal roles both in the public and private sector," Rubio said in a statement. "I am confident she will serve Florida's Middle District with great integrity."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has made the confirmation of Trump's conservative judicial appointees a high priority. Earlier this week, the Senate confirmed the nomination of Benjamin Beaton, the co-chair of Squire Patton Boggs' appellate and Supreme Court practice, to the federal bench in Kentucky.

Mizelle was nominated by the president in August. Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously backed her nomination during the same Oct. 22 meeting where they approved Amy Coney Barrett's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. Democrats boycotted the meeting, calling Barrett's confirmation process a sham.

Mizelle's law firm, Jones Day, is longtime outside counsel to President Donald Trump's re-election campaign. The firm has come under fire in recent days from Democrats and anti-Trump Republicans for its work on election-related litigation.

Jones Day has publicly defended its work for the campaign but stressed it has not filed new Trump campaign lawsuits since the election, or alleged voter fraud.

Neither Jones Day or Mizelle responded to requests for comment.