Dem
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GOP
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Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman (ret.), who helped trigger the first impeachment of Donald Trump, has entered the Senate race against Sen. Ashley Moody (R-FL), who was appointed to the post by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL). Vindman once testified before Congress and told the members that Donald Trump tried to blackmail Volodymr Zelenskyy into agreeing to investigate Hunter Biden. Vindman's testimony led to Trump's first impeachment.
So far, so good for Vindman. In the first 24 hours of his campaign, he raised $1.7 million. That is the most any Senate candidate in Florida's history has raised in any 24-hour period. He reported that 99% of the online donations were $100 or less, so he can go back to those donors over and over asking for more money. If this is an indication of what is to come, he may well have enough money to seriously compete against Moody, who has never run for the Senate before. Of course, he will need many days like yesterday, because Florida is a very expensive state to run in, with 10 media markets and a huge population. But his first $1.7 million can go to more fundraising to keep the ball rolling.
Moody's Q4 fundraising numbers won't be public until Jan. 31, but during the first three quarters of 2025 combined, she raised $1.9 million—only slightly more than he raised in one day. She also transferred $2.1 million from other authorized committees to her Senate campaign account.
Moody has been endorsed by Donald Trump and is battle tested, having run for attorney general twice and won twice. Republicans in Florida now outnumber Democrats by 1.4 million voters. For Vindman to win, he would have to convince a lot of Florida Republicans to vote for him (or to stay home on Election Day). Charlie Cook rates the Florida Senate race as solid Republican. Still, if Trump is below what Sarah Longwell calls the Bush line (32% approval) in November and there is a massive blue tsunami, Vindman might be able to pull it off. (V)