Key takeaways:
- Moody won her first Senate election after Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed her to Marco Rubio’s former seat in January 2025.
- Republicans hold an advantage of about 1.5 million registered voters in Florida, where Democrats have not won a Senate race since 2012.
- Nixon criticized Moody over a $10 million Medicaid settlement deal; Moody denied wrongdoing, and no charges were brought after a grand jury review.
Republican Sen. Ashley Moody defeated Democrat Angie Nixon in Florida’s special Senate election Tuesday, securing the seat she was appointed to after Marco Rubio became U.S. secretary of state. Moody will serve the rest of Rubio’s term, with the seat returning to the ballot in 2028.
The victory was Moody’s first in a Senate race. She had previously won two statewide elections for Florida attorney general before Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed her to the vacancy in January 2025. Nixon, a state lawmaker from the Jacksonville area, won an upset in the Democratic primary but faced a substantial fundraising disadvantage in the general election, according to NBC News.
The race tested whether Democrats could make gains in a state where Republicans now hold an advantage of about 1.5 million registered voters. Democrats have not won a Florida Senate race since 2012. President Donald Trump carried the state by 13 points in 2024, according to CBS News.
Moody cast Nixon’s alignment with the Democratic Socialists of America as central to the campaign. Her ads tied Nixon to proposals associated with the organization, including abolishing the police, even though Nixon said she did not support that policy. Moody also portrayed her opponent as favoring the defunding of the military, the abolition of prisons and unchecked immigration and noncitizen voting.
Nixon rejected the focus on her political label. “It’s not about labels,” she said, while emphasizing healthcare and housing affordability. She also campaigned on corruption in politics and criticized Moody’s role as attorney general in a deal connected to Hope Florida, a charity tied to Florida first lady Casey DeSantis.
The deal involved $10 million from a Medicaid settlement that was directed to the charity and ultimately used by a political committee opposing a 2024 ballot measure to legalize recreational marijuana, NBC News reported. Moody had to sign off on the deal, the network reported. She has denied wrongdoing, and no charges were brought after a state prosecutor convened a grand jury to review the matter.
Nixon made the controversy part of one of her most widely circulated campaign remarks. Responding to attacks suggesting she wanted to abolish prisons, she said: “I don’t want to abolish prisons, because I want Ashley Moody in one of them.”
The candidates also ran different kinds of campaigns. Moody used her fundraising advantage to buy extensive advertising, while Nixon held frequent events across the state. Moody drew criticism for declining to debate Nixon and holding fewer public events, NBC News reported.
Nixon’s primary win attracted national progressive attention. Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez rallied with her in central Florida last month, according to The Guardian. But that support did not overcome Moody’s advantage in a state where Republicans have won the past several statewide contests.
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