Angie Nixon

A Democratic-backed super PAC has poured $2 million into ads attacking Florida Sen. Ashley Moody over her record on releasing Jeffrey Epstein's files, featuring survivor Marina Lacerda questioning Moody's priorities. The ad notes Moody joined other Republicans in blocking a September 2025 measure tied to the defense budget, but omits that the Senate later approved a standalone release bill by unanimous consent. The National Republican Senatorial Committee called the ads false and misleading, saying Moody ultimately supported transparency legislation. Epstein-related ads have run in 63 congressional races nationally, totaling $76 million.

With Election Day days away, Moody faces Democratic state Rep. Angie Nixon, a democratic socialist who accuses Moody of refusing to debate and of involvement in misappropriating $10 million in Medicaid funds, which Moody denies. Moody has campaigned with gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds, branding Nixon a communist, a label Nixon rejects.

With the midterm election days away, Florida's U.S. Senate race pits Republican incumbent Ashley Moody, appointed to the seat by Gov. Ron DeSantis, against Democratic state Rep. Angie Nixon, who upset Alex Vindman in the August primary. Moody is campaigning on her record as a former attorney general and prosecutor, emphasizing law enforcement, individual freedoms, and Florida's conservative policies while casting Nixon as a socialist. Nixon is focused on affordability, government corruption, and working families, accusing Moody of using office for personal enrichment. Both candidates reject the other's characterizations as the race heads into its final week before November's vote.

Florida's attorney general race pits Republican James Uthmeier, a former chief of staff to Gov. Ron DeSantis seeking his first elected office, against Democrat José Javier Rodríguez, a Miami lawyer and former state senator. Uthmeier has faced scrutiny over the Hope Florida controversy, legal fights with institutions including the Catholic Church and The New York Times, and questions about campaign-connected contracts. Rodríguez, who lost a 2020 state Senate race amid an illegal "ghost candidate" scheme that led to criminal convictions, is campaigning as an anti-corruption reformer and has drawn a $5 million late infusion from the Democratic Attorney Generals Association. A win would make him the first Democrat elected attorney general in Florida since 2002.

Democrat Angie Nixon, who upset Alex Vindman in Florida's Senate primary by nearly 12 points, is now challenging Republican Senator Ashley Moody in a race most analysts consider a longshot for Democrats. Florida has 1.5 million more registered Republicans than Democrats, and polls show Moody leading, though margins vary. Nixon faces a severe funding gap, having raised under $1 million to Moody's more than $11 million as of late July, limiting her ability to counter attack ads tying her to the Democratic Socialists of America.

National Democrats have been slow to invest in the race, but Senators Chris Murphy and Bernie Sanders are campaigning with Nixon this week, with Sanders contributing $250,000. Nixon is running on universal health care, child care, and affordable housing, and is working to mobilize Black voters and women while courting GOP-leaning communities. She has embraced an unapologetically progressive, grassroots-driven campaign, drawing comparisons to gubernatorial nominee David Jolly's more moderate crossover strategy, with both races seen as tests of competing Democratic approaches ahead of 2028. Analysts say Trump's unpopularity and cost-of-living concerns give her an opening, but she would need exceptionally high Democratic turnout combined with Republican voters staying home to overcome the state's structural disadvantages.

Florida's two marquee 2026 statewide races present unusual racial pairings, and candidates are handling the dynamic very differently. In the Senate race, Democrat Angie Nixon, a progressive from Jacksonville, faces Republican Ashley Moody, the former state attorney general appointed to the seat Marco Rubio vacated. In the governor's race, Republican Byron Donalds, who could become Florida's first Black governor, is running against David Jolly, a former Republican turned Democrat with strong Black voter support.

Analysts say Donalds has mostly avoided Black-specific outreach and race-focused messaging, emphasizing the economy and school choice instead, reflecting a common strategy for Black conservative candidates wary of alienating their base. Despite recent efforts to court Black voters, polling shows Jolly holding a commanding lead among Black voters. Nixon, by contrast, has leaned into discussing race directly while also courting white working-class voters with economic messaging, trailing Moody in current polling but with strategists calling her a credible underdog capable of winning with strong turnout.

Donalds has continued to draw national attention on other issues, recently criticizing far-left Florida Democrats who have called to abolish ICE amid the broader immigration debate.

A letter to the Sun Sentinel from Women In Distress CEO Linda Parker criticizes Lauderhill city commissioners for praying publicly for a colleague accused of domestic violence, arguing the gesture signaled that survivors matter less than a powerful, well-known figure accused of harming them. Parker notes Lauderhill has one of the highest per-capita domestic violence rates in Broward County, and that Women In Distress, with city police support, secured funding for a pilot program sending advocates to domestic violence calls to assist with documentation and prosecution. She argues the commission's response undermines that work and discourages victims from reporting abuse, since community reactions to early disclosures strongly influence whether survivors come forward. Parker calls on Lauderhill to explain how it will hold the accused commissioner accountable.

The same letters page included separate reader submissions on U.S. Senate candidate Angie Nixon's town hall remarks on Israel and Gaza, and a call for independent-minded voting ahead of the midterms, reflecting a broader section of reader opinion rather than related reporting.

David Jolly, the Democratic nominee for Florida governor, said he would welcome former Vice President Kamala Harris to campaign with him, even suggesting she "should have beaten" Donald Trump in 2024. Harris lost Florida to Trump by more than 13 points that year and has had mixed reception on the trail this cycle, embraced by some Democrats in Michigan and Georgia while others in Iowa, Alaska, and Kansas have kept their distance.

Jolly, a former Republican who left the GOP in 2018, has aligned with several progressive positions on guns, healthcare, abortion, DEI, and immigration, despite branding himself a moderate. He has also campaigned alongside Senate nominee Angie Nixon, a Democratic Socialists of America member. Jolly faces Rep. Byron Donalds in the general election; recent polling has shown a wide range of outcomes, from a narrow Jolly lead to a substantial Donalds advantage. The race is being closely watched as a test of Democratic strategy in a state Trump won decisively, and of Harris's political future ahead of 2026 and a possible 2028 run.