Angie Nixon defeats Vindman in Florida Democratic Senate primary

Cory Mills loses Florida House primary amid misconduct allegations

State Rep. Angie Nixon, a Democratic socialist, defeated retired Lt. Col. Alex Vindman in Florida’s special Senate Democratic primary on Tuesday, according to The Wall Street Journal. Nixon campaigned on Medicare for All and a federal minimum wage of $25 an hour. Vindman, a central figure in President Donald Trump’s first impeachment who had moved to Florida in recent years, significantly outraised her. His twin brother, Eugene Vindman, serves in the U.S. House representing a district in Northern Virginia.

Nixon will face Republican Sen. Ashley Moody in the November general election. Moody, whom Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed to fill the seat left vacant by Secretary of State Marco Rubio last year, won her primary easily. The Journal reported that Republicans are strongly favored to hold the seat in the fall but that Nixon’s win could shake up expectations in the race. In other recent contests elsewhere, Abdul El-Sayed won the Democratic nomination for Senate in Michigan, while Francesca Hong lost the Wisconsin governor race.

In one of Florida’s House primaries, Republican Rep. Cory Mills lost his bid to former news anchor Ryan Elijah. Mills faced allegations ranging from domestic abuse and revenge porn to improper business dealings and claims of stolen military valor; he has denied wrongdoing. Elijah drew support from several Florida Republican lawmakers, including Reps. Anna Paulina Luna and Mike Haridopolos. Including Mills, four Republican and seven Democratic incumbents have lost their primaries this cycle. Trump endorsed Mills earlier this year but omitted him from his list of Florida primary endorsements last week. The Journal reported that the defeat signals limits among GOP officials and Republican voters in tolerating candidates mired in controversy, including those who could be vulnerable to Democratic challengers in the fall.

In the Republican gubernatorial primary, Rep. Byron Donalds won, advancing toward what could be a history-making general election: a Donalds victory would make him Florida’s first Black Republican governor. Donalds was backed by Trump, though DeSantis did not endorse him. He will face former Republican Rep. David Jolly, who changed parties and won the state’s Democratic primary. James Fishback, whose campaign drew national attention for racist remarks about Donalds as well as antisemitic comments, finished a distant third behind Donalds and Jay Collins, the state’s lieutenant governor.

In the southwest Florida House primary for Donalds’s current seat, businessman Jim Schwartzel defeated Catalina Lauf, a former Trump administration official whom Trump had backed. Former Republican Reps. Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina and Chris Collins of New York also lost in the crowded field. Collins, pardoned by Trump in 2020, had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud and lying to law enforcement.

Former Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, who quit her seat in April amid an ethics investigation over allegations of financial fraud, money laundering and campaign-finance rule violations, drew 9.2% of the vote in her comeback bid and lost. Cherfilus-McCormick has called the investigation a “witch hunt.” Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who ran in the district after her own constituency was redrawn, won the nomination with 45.4%, according to the Associated Press.

In a separate House race, social-media personality Dan Bilzerian, whose antisemitic postings were denounced by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.), finished a distant second to GOP Rep. Randy Fine. Fine, who has drawn his own controversy — including a social-media post in which he said he would choose dogs over Muslims — won by nearly 40 points.

Rep. Jared Moskowitz, a pro-Israel moderate who has described himself as a “Ron DeSantis Democrat,” defeated Democratic socialist challenger Oliver Larkin, an activist and union organizer. Moskowitz will face Scott Singer, the former mayor of Boca Raton, in a House race that comes under new legislative maps Florida passed that favor the GOP.

Wyoming also held primaries Tuesday. Trump’s pick for governor, Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder, lost to rancher and state lawmaker Eric Barlow in the Republican primary. The Journal reported the result adds to Trump’s endorsement record after previous losses in the Iowa and Minnesota governor primaries, among others. In another Wyoming contest, Rep. Harriet Hageman won the Republican nomination to succeed retiring Sen. Cynthia Lummis.