US Sen. Ashley Moody keeps Florida seat in GOP hands

U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody won her third statewide election Tuesday as Republicans kept hold of the Florida seat to which Moody was appointed after President Donald Trump nominated Marco Rubio as secretary of state.

Moody defeated state Rep. Angie Nixon in a special election called to fill the remaining two years of Rubio’s term. The Associated Press called the race just after 8:30 p.m. eastern time, with more than 90% of the votes counted. She led Nixon by about 2 percentage points, earning 50.9% of the vote compared to Nixon’s 48%.

Moody had previously won two statewide elections for Florida attorney general before Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed her to fill Rubio’s spot.

Moody spent much of her campaign calling Nixon a “socialist” due to Nixon’s decision to join the Democratic Socialists of America earlier this year. The DSA did not endorse Nixon but Nixon highlighted her progressive record as she campaigned throughout Florida, a state that had swung steadily to Republicans in the past several elections.

While Nixon pointed out that she did not agree with all of the DSA positions, the affiliation still became the focus of Moody’s criticism. It was a theme Moody revisited in her victory speech Tuesday night in Tampa.

“What a night, what a win,” Moody began. “You know, throughout this campaign, I said that this election would come down to freedom versus socialism. Well Florida chose freedom,” Moody said.

Moody also gave thanks to President Donald Trump, as well as DeSantis.

“I want everyone to know, whether you voted for me or whether you didn’t vote for me, I am your senator, I am here to serve you,” Moody said. “And if you ever need me, if I can ever help you in your pursuit of the American dream, please call my office. It would be my great honor to serve you.”

‘The war is not over’

Nixon, who upset the Democratic establishment favorite Alexander Vindman in the August primary, got backing from notable progressive voices in the run-up to the November election, including independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat. 

While Moody painted Nixon as a socialist and radical, Nixon — in turn — kept reminding voters at campaign rallies and on social media of Moody’s role in the transfer of $10 million in Medicaid funding from a settlement with managed care plan Centene away from the state and into the Hope Florida Foundation, championed by First Lady Casey DeSantis. It paid for a campaign against a marijuana legalization proposed constitutional amendment.

Nixon didn’t mention Hope Florida in her concession speech, though.

“So, I want y’all to hear me when I say this: We may not have won this election, but that outcome will not stop us from giving up, from getting up tomorrow to continue the fight to deliver what everyday hardworking Floridians need and deserve,” Nixon told an enthusiastic crowd of supporters that started chanting, “Angie, Angie, Angie.”

“I’m going to wake up tomorrow and keep fighting against the corruption that’s keeping our wages stagnant and driving up our costs,” she said. 

At the end of her remarks Nixon hinted to the crowd that this might not be her last race.

“And I promise ya’ll that we may have lost this battle, but the war is not over. But I need ya’ll to stay in this fight. The war is not over — 2028 is around the corner. Ashley Moody, you better get it right because we’re coming for you.”

Congressional races

DeSantis responded to President Trump’s call for Republican-led states to redraw congressional district lines with a new map by the GOP-controlled Legislature approved in the spring, designed to add four Republicans to the 20 that already made up the state’s 28-member delegation.

That plan fell short Tuesday night.

Republican PACS and other groups spent more than $20 million in attack ads in an attempt to knock off 20-year Democratic incumbent Kathy Castor in Florida’s 14th Ccongressional District in Hillsborough County.

It didn’t work, however, as Castor defeated Republican Mike Beltran by 5 percentage points, 51%-46%.

“This victory is proof that no amount of money, politics, or extreme agenda can replace the trust earned by showing up, listening, and delivering for the people we serve,” said Castor in a written statement.

“I will continue to fight tooth and nail to lower costs and make healthcare more accessible and affordable. I will keep working for a government that is worthy of the public’s trust by fighting the rampant corruption and self-dealing that drives up your costs while lining the pockets of millionaires and billionaires.”

Another Democrat Republicans had hoped to take out was Rep. Jared Moskowitz, who moved to run in Florida’s 25th Congressional District after the hub of his previous seat in District 23 was moved about 20 miles north in Palm Beach County.

Moskowitz defeated Republican Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer by 6 percentage points, 52%-46%.

A moderate Democrat, Moskowitz said South Florida sent a “clear message” in electing him.

“Voters want leaders who think for themselves, stand up to extremes, and deliver results,” he said. “This district was re-drawn to defeat me. Voters had other plans. I am deeply grateful to everyone who placed their trust in me, and to the volunteers and supporters who made this victory possible. Whether you voted for me or not, I will work every day to earn your trust and represent every corner of this district.”

More than $46 million was spent in the race, according to Federal Election Commission data.

Another seat the GOP designed to flip was the 22nd Congressional District, which originally covered Palm Beach County but now sprawls from inland Palm Beach to some of Broward before taking in all of rural Hendry and part of southern Collier County.

Democrat Pia Dandiya, a former educator and lobbyist for Apple Inc., defeated Republican businessman Casey Askar in another highly fought and expensive race by 8 percentage points, 54%-46%.

Dandiya said in a statement after her race was called that even though the Florida Legislature “tried to gerrymander us, what we have shown tonight is that we, the people, still have the power.”

“But I’m not going to Washington to fight the people,” she added. “I’m going to fight for people. Whether you are from Belle Glade or Marco Island, Parkland or Royal Palm, I will work tirelessly to lower the cost of living and stand up to the corruption in D.C. So you can spend less time worrying about making ends meet and more time building the life you want for your family. And I will work with anyone who is ready to put progress ahead of party.”

The most challenging seat for the Democrats to hold was Florida’s 9th Congressional District, which had been represented by Darren Soto.

It was by far the most severely redistricted to favor a Republican, as it went from a seat that voted for Kamala Harris by more than 3 percentage points in 2024 to one that would have voted for Trump by 18 percentage points.

But, in a stunner, Soto was maintaining a lead late Tuesday against Republican Dan Green.

The new Florida map radically wiped out the previous version of Congressional District 9, taking it from 50% Hispanic to just 36%, according to data analyst Matt Isbell. The district now encompasses Osceola, Highlands, Indian River, Okeechobee, and Glades counties, and parts of Orange and Polk.

Republicans did hold on in highly watched races in Pinellas and Miami-Dade County.

In Florida’s 13th Congressional District, MAGA-friendly Republican Anna Paulina Luna defeated Democrat Leela Gray, a retired Army brigadier general, in what became a nasty campaign, by less than 1 percentage point, 49%-48%.

And in Florida’s 27th Congressional District in Miami-Dade County, in the battle between two former news anchors, Republican Maria Salazar narrowly defeated Democrat Eliot Rodriguez by less than 1 percentage point, 50%-49%. Salazar made national headlines in September when she released a campaign ad in which she declared that President Trump’s immigration efforts had gone “too far.”