Alex Vindman, who became a national figure in President Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial, qualified Wednesday to run for the U.S. Senate seat held by Ashley Moody, R-Tampa.
Vindman, 50, is a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel who in 2019 testified that while on the National Security Council he witnessed Trump attempt to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate Joe Biden and his son. Biden at the time was poised to challenge Trump in the 2020 presidential election.
After paying the $10,440 fee on Wednesday at the Division of Elections office in Tallahassee to run as a Democrat, Vindman acknowledged he faces an uphill climb for a seat in a state that has tilted toward Republicans in recent years.
“This is not necessarily where you go to run for office as a Democrat, but again, I keep thinking about wherever you go, you leave it better than you found it, right?” Vindman told reporters outside the R.A. Gray Building. “So, we’ve been here for a while. I see the state, you know, becoming increasingly unaffordable.”
Moody was twice elected Florida’s attorney general before being appointed to the U.S. Senate by Gov. Ron DeSantis in January 2025. She took over the role after Marco Rubio left the Senate to be Secretary of State under Trump, following his victory in the 2024 presidential election over Biden.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Moody had yet to formally qualify. Her campaign didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.
The qualifying period ends at noon on Friday for the U.S. Senate contest, along with the state attorney and public defender offices for the 20th Judicial Circuit, and judicial offices from the justice of the Florida Supreme Court to district courts of appeal, circuit courts and county courts. Justices on the state Supreme Court and appellate judges face retention votes, not traditional elections against an opponent.
The Republican Party of Florida was quick to highlight Vindman as a non-Floridian who only moved to the state in 2023, and his role in the 2019 impeachment of President Trump.
“I’m glad he could find the Florida Department of State as an Arizonian,” RPOF Chairman Evan Power replied in an email on Wednesday. “Florida does not need a third Senator from Arizona nor someone who has betrayed his country and president.”
Vindman had announced his plans to run for the statewide office in January. He said he expects such attacks.
“They’re going to come at me with everything they have. I am not going to back down,” Vindman said. “I’m here to represent the people of Florida. It doesn’t make a difference what they throw at me. I’ve got a strong record that I’ve delivered for this country. I will stand on the fact that I fought corruption at the highest level, regardless of the consequences, and I will continue to do that regardless of what they throw at me.”
The Ukraine-born Vindman testified that while on the National Security Council he witnessed Trump on a call attempt to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate Joe Biden and his son.
Vindman’s twin brother, Eugene, was elected to the U.S. House in 2024 representing Virginia’s 7th congressional district.
In public polling since the beginning of the year, Moody has been ahead, with the gap ranging from 1 percentage point to 8 percentage points over Vindman, with her support between 43 percent to 50 percent.
The last Democrat to win a U.S. Senate race in the state was Bill Nelson’s 2012 re-election. But in a sign the contest can be competitive, Vindman has drawn significant financial support.
For the first quarter, Vindman raised $8 million while Moody took in $2.6 million over the same period.
Including previously raised funds, Moody had $7.13 million available on April 1, while Vindman had $6.2 million on hand as the second quarter began.
State Rep. Angie Nixon, a Jacksonville Democrat, is among those that have opened a campaign account for the office. The Division of Elections didn’t list any candidate for the office as qualified as of Wednesday afternoon.
This week was supposed to be the qualifying period for U.S. House candidates, but the period was shifted to the week of June 8 after Gov. Ron DeSantis called for a special session on congressional redistricting.
The start of the special session was pushed back to April 28 by DeSantis last week. No proposed line changes have been made public and DeSantis added legislation regarding vaccines and artificial intelligence guardrails that failed to advance in the regular session that ended March 13.
The winner of the U.S. Senate race will serve the remaining two years of Rubio’s term before facing reelection in 2028.
