Republican Sen. Ashley Moody held Florida’s U.S. Senate seat by beating Democrat Angie Nixon, a state lawmaker backed by the Democratic Socialists of America.
Story Highlights
- Moody won about 50.8% of the vote to Nixon’s 48%, a lead of more than 200,000 votes.
- The special election decided who finishes the last two years of Marco Rubio’s term after he became Secretary of State.
- Nixon drew fire from both parties in October when she would not say outright that Cuba is a dictatorship. “I have never been to Cuba, and so I will have to take their word for it,” she said.
- A conservative watchdog has asked federal prosecutors and other agencies to look into a charity Nixon founded that raised about $271,000. That is a request for an inquiry, not a criminal charge.
Moody Holds Florida Seat After Hard-Fought Special Election
Florida voters went to the polls on Tuesday, November 3, to decide who would serve out the Senate term Marco Rubio left when he became Secretary of State. Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Moody, then Florida’s attorney general, to the seat in January 2025, so this was her first time on the Senate ballot. Major news organizations projected Moody the winner that night, and she told supporters at her Tampa watch party, “Well, Florida chose freedom.”
Nixon is a state representative from Jacksonville. The Democratic Socialists of America, or DSA, is a national left-wing group that backs socialist policies. Nixon won the Democratic primary in August in an upset over Alex Vindman, a retired Army lieutenant colonel whom many Democrats had seen as their strongest pick. Her platform included Medicare for All, a plan to replace private health insurance with one government plan, along with free child care, paid family and sick leave, and a national rent freeze.
Why This Race Mattered To Conservatives
Republicans cast the race as a test of whether a socialist-backed candidate could win statewide in Florida. Moody’s campaign ran ads telling voters that “Angie Nixon is actually a socialist,” and Moody declined to debate her. Nixon had a cash disadvantage through the fall. She campaigned hard in person across the state and publicly distanced herself from some DSA positions.
Cuba became a flash point late in the race. Asked in a CBS interview whether she considers Cuba a dictatorship, Nixon said, “You know, that is what people have told me. I have never been to Cuba, and so I will have to take their word for it.” Republicans called the answer non-committal, and some Democrats criticized it too. One Democratic House candidate in Miami said Cuba being a dictatorship “is not a matter of opinion.” The answer landed hard in a state that is home to many families who fled the Castro regime.
What The Numbers Showed On Election Night
With about 97% of the expected vote counted, one tally showed Moody with 4,103,392 votes, or 50.8%, and Nixon with 3,876,303, or 48%. Independent Neil Gillespie drew about 1.1%. Other tallies, taken at different times of the night, showed totals a little higher or lower, but every one showed Moody ahead by two to three points.
Small differences between tallies are normal on election night because counties report in waves. Florida’s official certified results come later, after county canvassing boards finish their work. A canvassing board is the local panel that reviews and certifies each county’s vote count.
What Comes Next For Florida And Washington
Moody will serve the remaining two years of the term Rubio won in 2022. The seat will be on the ballot again in 2028 for a full six-year term. Her win kept the seat in Republican hands on a night when Democrats won Senate races in other states, according to reports.
The questions about Nixon’s charity do not end with the election. The National Legal and Policy Center, a conservative watchdog group, filed a complaint on Monday, October 26, about The Moxie Group Inc., a charity Nixon founded that was tied to her Jacksonville bookstore and coffee shop. The group says the charity reported raising more than $271,000 in 2024 but listed about $210,000 of its spending only as “other,” with no breakdown. It asked the IRS, the Federal Election Commission, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida, the Florida attorney general and the state agency that oversees charities to investigate. Nixon’s campaign says she resigned as the charity’s manager in December 2025 and had no part in later decisions. The complaint is not a finding of wrongdoing, and the Justice Department has not announced any action.
A Measured Win With Clear Stakes
Ashley Moody won a close race and kept Florida’s Senate seat in Republican hands for two more years. Her socialist-backed opponent came within about three points, but Florida voters chose Moody. She will be back on the ballot in 2028, and Florida voters will get the final say on her full term then.
Sources:
redstate.com, nbcboston.com, cnn.com, apnews.com, wuft.org, weareiowa.com
