Alex Vindman, Trump Impeachment Witness, to Run for Senate: Odds for FL Senate Democratic Nominee – Federal News Network
Retired U.S. Army Lt. Col Alex Vindman, a former member of the NSC, has announced his bid for the United States Senate in Florida as a Democrat. Vindman was a crucial witness in President Trump’s first impeachment trial over aid to Ukraine and allegations that the president tried to force Ukrainian President Vlodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate Joe Biden.
Trump was ultimately impeached, the first of two impeachments.
His brother Eugene served as a lawyer on the NSC. Their reporting of the allegations of wrongdoing led to the investigation of the president. Eugene Vindman is also now involved in elected politics as a Democratic Congressman from Virginia.
Alex Vindman enters the race to challenge Republican Senator Ashley Moody.
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There will be a special election on Nov. 3, 2026 to name a permanent replacement for former Sen. Marco Rubio, who left the senate to become Trump’s Secretary of State.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis selected Moody, the former state Attorney General, to take over Rubio’s seat.
Vindman must first get the Democratic nomination. The primary will be on Aug. 18. Upon his announcement, he jumped to the top of the prediction markets. Is it a boost for the recognizable but unknown entity, or is he viewed as the Dems’ best opportunity to flip the seat blue?
Currently, the market has vaulted Vindman to around 50% to secure the Democratic nomination for Senate in the Sunshine State. He overtakes Congressman Jared Moskowitz, whose numbers are hovering around the mid-30s.
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Moskowitz serves Florida’s 23rd District and is a lifelong Floridian, born in Coral Springs in 1980.
Josh Weil is in the single digits.
Weil and Moskowitz have been going back and forth, trading leads on the markets, for around a year. It seemed that Florida was unhappy with either options. Vindman at least gives them a recognizable name that will irritate Trump.
If Vindman wins the nomination, the market will resolve to Yes. The Florida State Government will verify the outcome.
When considering whether to take part in the market, remember there is a Kalshi promo code offering new users a $10 Sign Up Bonus after completing $100 in trades.
Florida is a unique political locale. Whereas it was long viewed as a purplish state that decided the 2000 election in favor of George W. Bush and voted twice for Barack Obama, it is now leaning closer to ruby-red Alabama than to the sometimes Republican/sometimes Democrat Virginia.
While Trump is from New York, he is a Floridian with Mar-a-Lago serving as his “winter White House.”
Florida has not had a Democrat governor since the late-1990s with Lawton Chiles and his successor when Chiles died in office, Buddy MacKay. With an elderly population, very wealthy residents, business-friendly policies, low regulation, and a Cuban bloc that is reliably GOP, it’s getting nearly impossible for a left-leaning Democrat to win elected office in much of the state.
Both senators are currently Republicans. Although Sen. Moody was appointed and not elected, she clearly has the imprimatur of Gov. DeSantis. Trump will do whatever he can to retain the crucial senate seat, particularly in an increasingly fraught political climate for him where the coming midterms could be disastrous for the Republicans as the president begins his final two years in office.
Read more: Prediction Markets
Adding in that the overwhelming likelihood is that Vindman will get the Democratic nomination and that Trump despises him, it will be a big money race where the GOP apparatus will pour cash in by the barrel.
Every cycle, Florida is said to be in play for the Democrats. And every cycle since Obama’s 2012 win, the Republicans have won relatively easily. Barring a catastrophe, it’s hard to see Vindman having much of a chance. Florida will likely see him as a carpetbagger who is running in Florida not because of any vested interest in the state, but because there’s an opportunity.
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