Sen. Ashley Moody defeats Angie Nixon to hold onto Florida Senate seat
By Meghan Bowman
November 3, 2026 at 9:15 PM EST
The Republican, who was appointed to the Senate seat to replace now-Secretary of State Marco Rubio, won with 50.8% of the vote. She will serve the remainder of the six-year term until 2028.
Sen. Ashley Moody defeated Democrat Angie Nixon in the special election for Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s old Senate seat during Tuesday's midterms.
Moody won 50.8% of voters with 4,103,392 votes, to Nixon's 47.9% and 3,955,355 votes.
During her acceptance speech in Tampa, she acknowledged the narrow margin of victory.
"I am mindful that there are millions of Floridians that voted for someone else. And what I think the message there is, they want government to be accountable. They want to make sure they have a government that is offering and protecting meaningful opportunity to pursue happiness for their families, so their families can thrive," Moody said. "That is not lost on me, and 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."
Hotel Haya in Ybor City was packed for Moody’s election night party. She told the crowd she is very worried about the movement of socialism.
"I am very concerned that our young people in this country, ages 18 to 34 - very few of them - and the teens, are extremely proud to be an American. If you compare that to those over 70, over 70% would say they are. Extremely proud to be an American, and what that means to me is, our generation somehow has dropped the ball," Moody said.
Nixon drummed up enthusiasm among younger voters, she didn’t gain enough momentum to push her over the edge. Her grassroots campaign brought her a surprise victory over Alexander Vindman during the primaries, who had outraised her 16:1.
Nixon conceded during an election night gathering in Jacksonville. She told supporters she was proud of her campaign but she is not done fighting for Floridians.
"We brought together Democrats, Republicans, Independents - hell, a libertarian said he voted for me. Folks who never believed politics had anything to offer them," she said. "Because of the work you all did, we gave people something to believe in again. We reminded people that their voices matter, that their lives matter."
Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Moody, then the state attorney general, to fill Marco Rubio’s Senate seat in January 2025. Moody will serve the remainder of the six-year term until 2028, when the seat comes up for election again.
ALSO READ: Data centers, power bills, hurricanes: What’s at stake for the environment in Florida’s Senate race
Before the election, University of North Florida political scientist Sean Freeder said he would have been surprised to see Nixon win; she trailed Moody by as much as 4 points in polling.
Freeder, faculty director of UNF's Public Opinion Research Lab, said one of its polls found that some Republicans were dissatisfied over the Hope Florida scandal, but it didn’t translate into people crossing party lines to vote.
“We also find that you know for crossover voting, one of the things you'd imagine is that running a former Republican like David Jolly have a better chance of bringing over Republican voters,” Freeder said. “You run Angie Nixon, someone that's flirted with socialism, you have a harder time bringing over Republican voters.”
Moody won 50.8% of voters with 4,103,392 votes, to Nixon's 47.9% and 3,955,355 votes.
During her acceptance speech in Tampa, she acknowledged the narrow margin of victory.
"I am mindful that there are millions of Floridians that voted for someone else. And what I think the message there is, they want government to be accountable. They want to make sure they have a government that is offering and protecting meaningful opportunity to pursue happiness for their families, so their families can thrive," Moody said. "That is not lost on me, and 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."
Hotel Haya in Ybor City was packed for Moody’s election night party. She told the crowd she is very worried about the movement of socialism.
"I am very concerned that our young people in this country, ages 18 to 34 - very few of them - and the teens, are extremely proud to be an American. If you compare that to those over 70, over 70% would say they are. Extremely proud to be an American, and what that means to me is, our generation somehow has dropped the ball," Moody said.
Nixon drummed up enthusiasm among younger voters, she didn’t gain enough momentum to push her over the edge. Her grassroots campaign brought her a surprise victory over Alexander Vindman during the primaries, who had outraised her 16:1.
Nixon conceded during an election night gathering in Jacksonville. She told supporters she was proud of her campaign but she is not done fighting for Floridians.
"We brought together Democrats, Republicans, Independents - hell, a libertarian said he voted for me. Folks who never believed politics had anything to offer them," she said. "Because of the work you all did, we gave people something to believe in again. We reminded people that their voices matter, that their lives matter."
Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Moody, then the state attorney general, to fill Marco Rubio’s Senate seat in January 2025. Moody will serve the remainder of the six-year term until 2028, when the seat comes up for election again.
ALSO READ: Data centers, power bills, hurricanes: What’s at stake for the environment in Florida’s Senate race
Before the election, University of North Florida political scientist Sean Freeder said he would have been surprised to see Nixon win; she trailed Moody by as much as 4 points in polling.
Freeder, faculty director of UNF's Public Opinion Research Lab, said one of its polls found that some Republicans were dissatisfied over the Hope Florida scandal, but it didn’t translate into people crossing party lines to vote.
“We also find that you know for crossover voting, one of the things you'd imagine is that running a former Republican like David Jolly have a better chance of bringing over Republican voters,” Freeder said. “You run Angie Nixon, someone that's flirted with socialism, you have a harder time bringing over Republican voters.”