Florida Senate Race Heads Into Its Final Weekend With More Than 4 Million Ballots Already Cast
Republican incumbent Ashley Moody and Democratic challenger Angie Nixon, with independent Neil Gillespie also on the ballot, are contesting the Senate seat Governor Ron DeSantis filled by appointment in January 2025.
Florida's U.S. Senate contest heads into its final weekend with more than 4 million Floridians already having cast early ballots as of Friday, October 30, according to reporting read by the Florida Desk this cycle, with Republicans accounting for about 44 percent of those ballots and Democrats about 35 percent. Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, and the winner serves the final two years of the Senate term Marco Rubio left when he became U.S. secretary of state.
The race pits Republican incumbent Ashley Moody, Florida's former attorney general, whom Governor Ron DeSantis appointed to the seat in January 2025, against Democratic state Representative Angie Nixon of Jacksonville. Independent candidate Neil Gillespie is also on the ballot, according to the voter guides read this cycle. Recent polling reported in those files showed Moody leading by about four percentage points heading into the campaign's final week, including an October University of North Florida survey that put Moody ahead 49 percent to 45 percent while Nixon led among independent voters.
The two campaigns present competing economic visions, with Moody emphasizing fiscal restraint, law enforcement and Florida's low-tax environment, and Nixon advocating a higher minimum wage, expanded health care access and stronger Social Security protections, according to the October 31 race file read this cycle. Leon County voters can cast Senate ballots at early voting sites through Sunday, November 1, and at their assigned precincts on Election Day.
