WASHINGTON (Gray DC) – A handful of states held primary elections Tuesday to determine which candidates will move on to November’s midterms, including Florida, where results on both sides of the aisle pointed to a different kind of election year.
State Rep. Angie Nixon, a progressive Democrat, won the nomination for U.S. Senate, defeating Alex Vindman.
“We are fighting against a system that protects the ultra-rich while punishing hard working families,” Nixon said.
Nixon’s win is being called a major upset because she won in a state where progressives have often struggled and against a better-funded opponent. The general election against Sen. Ashley Moody is still considered a long shot for Nixon in the Republican stronghold, but the victory is in line with national 2026 trends and is a change from past Florida elections.
In the state’s other primaries, incumbent Democratic Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Jared Moskowitz defeated progressive challengers. Their wins came despite having to run in new districts redrawn by the state GOP.
On the Republican side, Rep. Byron Donalds won the party’s nomination for governor. He’s now positioned to potentially become the state’s first Black governor if he wins in November. He’ll face former Republican Rep. David Jolly in the general election. Jolly, who left Congress in 2017, joined the Democratic Party in 2025.
Donalds had President Donald Trump’s endorsement in the race.
Other Trump-backed candidates lost in Florida, including embattled Rep. Cory Mills and House candidate Catalina Lauf.
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