Florida Senate Primary Results: Ashley Moody, Angie Nixon To Face Off In November

Major US television networks projected the winners of the Democratic and Republican primaries in Florida late on Tuesday night. Voters cast their ballots on August 18 to determine the Senate nominees for the upcoming November midterms.

Republican Senator Ashley Moody and Democratic state Representative Angie Nixon won their respective Florida Senate primaries on Tuesday, setting up a November contest for the seat previously held by Marco Rubio, according to projections. Moody comfortably secured the Republican nomination, while Nixon pulled off an upset against former Trump impeachment witness Alexander Vindman in the Democratic primary. The November special election will determine who serves the remainder of Rubio’s Senate term through 2028.

Ashley Moody Wins GOP Primary, Sets Up November Senate Contest

Incumbent Republican Senator Ashley Moody won the nomination with 79.57% of the vote, defeating Chris Gleason, Ernest Rivera and Neelam Taneja Perry. Moody secured 1,303,457 votes in the primary contest. The campaign will now shift its focus immediately to the general election. The primary performance provides the nominee with significant momentum entering the final months of the campaign.

Moody is heavily favored in the state dominated by Republican politics in recent years. She was temporarily appointed to a Senate seat in January 2025 after Marco Rubio vacated it to become secretary of state. In the November special election, Moody and Nixon will compete for the remainder of Rubio’s Senate term through 2028.

Angie Nixon Stuns Vindman In Democratic Primary

State Representative Angie Nixon won the Democratic primary, securing 55.95% of the vote to defeat Alex Vindman. Nixon secured 691,817 votes in an upset victory.

The upcoming Senate race serves as a significant test of the party's organising strategy. Nixon plans to focus heavily on voter turnout to challenge the Republican contender. Nixon, a small-business owner and two-term Florida lawmaker from Jacksonville, drew attention earlier this year after staging a sit-in at Gov. Ron DeSantis’s office to protest the congressional maps she said were gerrymandered. She was arrested after refusing to leave the office, as per Washington Post.

NBC News reported that the Florida race is a central battleground for control of the US Senate in the 2026 midterm elections. The projections set the stage for a high-stakes general election campaign. Both parties view the state as essential to securing a legislative majority in Washington. The two nominees will face off in the November 2026 special general election to complete the remainder of former Senator Marco Rubio's term. In the primary election, the overall voter turnout rate was 25.08%. Voters cast 3,380,924 ballots out of the state's 13,479,113 active registered voters. This represents a slight decline compared to the 2022 primary turnout rate of 26%.