Moody Holds Rubio's Florida Senate Seat, Beating Democratic Socialist Nixon

Republican Sen. Ashley Moody won Florida's special Senate election on Tuesday, defeating Democrat Angie Nixon, according to projections from NBC News and CBS News. The result keeps the seat once held by Secretary of State Marco Rubio under Republican control.

Moody will serve the remainder of Rubio's term, which CBS News reported ends in early 2029. NBC News reported that the seat will be on the ballot again in 2028 for a full term.

Who Moody and Nixon are

CBS News reported that Moody is 51. She was appointed to the Senate after Rubio left to join President Donald Trump's Cabinet. She previously served as Florida's attorney general and worked as a commercial litigator and federal prosecutor. The Guardian reported that Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed her in January 2025. NBC News noted that although she had won two statewide races for attorney general, this was her first time on the ballot for the Senate.

Nixon, 42, has represented parts of the Jacksonville area in the Florida Statehouse since 2020, according to CBS News. She is aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America and won an upset in the Democratic primary over a more moderate opponent. NBC News reported that her primary win drew national attention from progressives, though she trailed Moody in money throughout the general election.

How the campaign played out

Moody ran what NBC News described as a careful, traditional Florida Republican campaign. She used a large fundraising edge to dominate television advertising in a state of 23 million people. Her main argument, according to NBC News, was that Nixon was too liberal for Florida. Moody's ads focused on policies associated with the Democratic Socialists of America, even though Nixon distanced herself from them. In one example, Nixon said she does not want to abolish the police.

The Guardian reported that Moody portrayed Nixon's alignment with the group as evidence she wanted to cut police and military funding, abolish prisons and support unchecked immigration and noncitizen voting. The Guardian also said Moody praised Trump's immigration policies but mostly avoided praising him personally, given his poor approval ratings tied to the Iran war and high gas prices.

Nixon focused on affordability and corruption, according to the Guardian, and often raised Moody's role in the Hope Florida controversy. CBS News reported she also stressed health care and housing costs. NBC News said she held many in-person events across the state and appeared on both Florida media and center-left podcasts. Sens. Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez rallied with her last month in central Florida, the Guardian reported.

Moody drew criticism for declining to debate Nixon and holding fewer public events, NBC News reported. Florida Democratic Party chair Nikki Fried said at an October news conference that Moody should show up and answer voters' questions.

The Hope Florida dispute

NBC News reported that $10 million from a Medicaid settlement was directed to a charity tied to Florida first lady Casey DeSantis. A political committee then used the money to oppose a 2024 ballot measure that would have legalized recreational marijuana. As attorney general, Moody had to sign off on the deal. NBC News said she has denied wrongdoing and that no charges were filed after a state prosecutor convened a grand jury to review the matter.

Why it matters: what the result means for Florida voters

For Floridians, the outcome means the state's Senate representation stays the same. Moody, who was appointed rather than elected, now holds the seat on the strength of a statewide vote.

The race was also a test of Florida's political direction. NBC News reported that Republicans now have 1.5 million more registered voters than Democrats in the state, a sharp change after decades of Democratic advantage. Democrats have not won a Senate race there since 2012, according to NBC News. CBS News noted that Trump won Florida by 13 points in 2024 and described the state as formerly purple and increasingly red.

Reports differ on how close the race looked beforehand. NBC News called Moody the overwhelming favorite, while the Guardian said polling showed a clear but narrow advantage. The sources did not report final vote totals.

CBS News said Nixon's opponents seized on her socialist label, which it said may have alienated some immigrant communities in Florida that fled socialist governments. Nixon pushed back on that criticism, CBS News reported.

What comes next

Moody's seat returns to the ballot in 2028 for a full term, according to NBC News.

Around Prague, based on reporting by NBC News, The Guardian, CBS News