Vindman Launches U.S. Senate Bid

By The News Service of Florida

Retired Army Lt. Col. Alex Vindman, who testified during the first impeachment of President Donald Trump, announced Tuesday he is running for the Democratic nomination to try to unseat U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Fla, in November.

Vindman said in a video release he views Moody as “hand-picked by the political elites” to be “an automatic yes vote” for their agenda. “Today, our country is in chaos. Thug militias attacking citizens. Tariffs pushing prices sky-high. Health care premiums through the roof. And Florida homeowners are being absolutely screwed because Ashley Moody caved to the big insurance companies,” Vindman said. “They put Moody in the Senate to be a ‘yes’ vote for Trump and the billionaires. She’s not Florida’s senator. She’s theirs.”

The Ukraine-born Vindman testified in 2019 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 Congress in 2024 representing Virginia’s 7th congressional district. Alex Vindman joins state Rep. Angie Nixon, D-Jacksonville, and former Brevard County School Board member Jennifer Jenkins in the Democratic primary for the Senate seat.

The last Democrat to win a U.S. Senate race in the state was Bill Nelson’s 2012 re-election. Moody was appointed to the U.S. Senate last year by Gov. Ron DeSantis after twice being elected as state attorney general. The Republican Party of Florida on Tuesday issued a news release saying Vindman’s campaign is “doomed” and describing him as a “lying impeachment grifter.”