Moody Wins Florida Senate Seat After Runoff Vote
The AP projected the incumbent's victory hours after polls closed across the state, securing her return to the U.S. Senate.
By Renata Mehta ·
Voters in Florida decided the fate of the state's junior U.S. Senate seat on Tuesday. The Associated Press projected a victory for Republican Ashley Moody shortly after 5:37 p.m. EST. This result confirms her reelection to the position she has held since early last year.
The win resolves a special election held to fill the vacancy left by Marco Rubio. Rubio departed the Senate in January 2025 to assume the role of U.S. Secretary of State. Governor Ron DeSantis appointed Moody to fill the seat at that time. She now secures the position through a full vote by the electorate.
Moody, a fifth-generation Floridian, was born and raised in Plant City. She holds bachelor's, master's, and law degrees from the University of Florida. She also earned a Master of Laws from Stetson University. Her legal career included serving as a federal prosecutor focused on drug, firearms, and fraud cases. She later served as a Hillsborough County circuit court judge before becoming Florida's attorney general in 2019. She held that office until 2025.
Her opponent, Democrat Angie Nixon, is a state representative from Jacksonville. First elected to the Florida House in 2020, Nixon previously worked as a union organizer. She served as the executive director of Florida for All, a statewide coalition dedicated to voter registration and community organizing. Nixon, a mother of two, also operates a bookstore and community hub in Jacksonville. Her legislative focus includes affordable child care, consumer protections, education, and voting rights.
Polling places across most of Florida operated from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. EST on election day. Some counties in the Panhandle remained open until 8 p.m. EST due to their location in the Central Time Zone. Preliminary results were scheduled for release at 8 p.m. EST, though the AP projection arrived earlier in the evening.
The election was a direct contest between the two candidates for the open seat. The outcome places Moody back in the U.S. Senate, ending the special election cycle initiated by her predecessor's move to the cabinet.
