GOP Sen. Ashley Moody wins special Senate election for Marco Rubio’s old seat in Florida

Florida Republican Sen. Ashley Moody defeated Democrat Angie Nixon in the special election for Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s old Senate seat, NBC News projects.

Moody was considered the overwhelming favorite headed into the general election against Nixon, a Democratic Socialists of America-aligned candidate who scored an upset victory in the Democratic primary but faced a cash disadvantage throughout the general election.

Though Moody secured victory, Nixon’s surprise primary night win did elevate the race nationally as her emergence piqued the interest of progressives across the country. Democrats saw her as an opportunity to gain a footing in a state where their party has not won a Senate race since 2012.

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Ultimately, Moody continued the GOP’s run of dominance after largely running a careful, traditional Florida Republican campaign. She will serve the final two years of the term Rubio won in 2022; the seat will be on the ballot again in 2028 for a full term.

Rep. Angie Nixon, D-Fla.Joe Raedle / Getty

Moody relied on her significant fundraising advantage to flood the airwaves in a state of 23 million people, where being able to afford the pricey ad rates is seen as key to victory.

The Republican did face some criticism for declining to debate Nixon and doing fewer public events than the Democrat, who blanketed the state with in-person events and became a regular on both traditional state media and the center-left podcast circuit.

“Ashley Moody should take a page out of Angie Nixon’s book,” Florida Democratic Party chair Nikki Fried said during an October news conference in Tallahassee. “Stop hiding behind attacks. Show up and talk to the people you work for, because Ashley Moody is asking Floridians for their vote, and if she won’t answer their questions, they’ll give her their answer in November.”

The event included a sign that read “Where is Ashley Moody?”

Those hits, however, were not enough to pull down Moody, who also faced criticism for

her ties to the Hope Florida scandal, which involved $10 million for a Medicaid settlement being directed to a charity tied to Florida first lady Casey DeSantis. That money was ultimately used by a political committee to oppose a 2024 ballot measure that would have legalized recreational marijuana in the state.

Moody, who was the state attorney general at the time, had to sign off on the deal. She has denied any wrongdoing, and no charges were brought after a state prosecutor empaneled a grand jury to review the matter.

Moody’s main line of attack was focused on Nixon being too liberal for a state that now includes 1.5 million more registered Republicans than Democrats, a massive recent reversal after Democrats held an advantage for decades.

Much of Moody’s messaging and campaign ads focused on policies proposed by DSA more broadly, even as Nixon publicly distanced herself from them.

“Angie Nixon is actually a socialist,” a narrator says in one of the spots that focused on DSA issues like “abolishing the police,” which Nixon said she does not want to do.

Moody had previously won two statewide elections for attorney general, but it was her first time on the ballot for Senate. Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed her to the seat after Rubio was tapped to serve in Trump’s Cabinet.