Alex Vindman, an Army veteran who became known nationally during Donald Trump’s first impeachment, announced Tuesday that he is running for the U.S. Senate in Florida as a Democrat. He is entering a contest that will put him against Republican Sen. Ashley Moody if he wins the Democratic nomination.
Vindman’s political profile grew from his role in 2019, when he was serving on the National Security Council and worked in the period that preceded Trump’s Ukraine-related pressure campaign. The announcement said Vindman and his twin brother, Eugene Vindman, raised concerns after Trump pressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate Joe Biden, then a Democratic candidate, and that those reports helped spark investigations.
Eugene Vindman now serves as a congressman from Virginia, while Alex Vindman said he was forced out of the National Security Council and later retired from the Army after testifying during impeachment hearings. In his announcement, he referenced what he said was a broad pattern of pressure, writing that “this president unleashed a reign of terror and retribution, not just against me and my family but against all of us.”
Vindman also directly framed his opposition to Trump in his video announcement, describing Trump as a “wannabe tyrant” and referring to federal immigration agents as “thug militias.” The video included footage of the recent killing of two U.S. citizens during the deportation campaign in Minnesota, according to the announcement description reported by The Associated Press.
If Vindman wins the Democratic nomination, the race would pit him against Moody. Moody was appointed to fill the seat vacated when Marco Rubio left the Senate to become secretary of state, and the winner of the special election will finish the remaining two years of Rubio’s term.
The AP described the matchup as one of the party’s most prominent targets in Florida as Democrats seek to reclaim the Senate majority this fall in midterm elections. Democrats, the report said, will face a difficult political environment in a state that has swung decisively Republican in recent years; it added that a Democrat has not won a Senate seat in Florida since 2012.
Still, Democrats are hopeful the contest can be competitive, with Vindman’s fundraising prowess and the national political environment cited as potential tailwinds. The report also connected that environment to backlash against Trump’s immigration crackdown and a focus on the economy that has not centered on Trump, as Democrats argue.
Trump, for his part, denied any wrongdoing when he was impeached over Ukraine-related allegations and was acquitted by the Senate. He was later impeached again over the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and again was acquitted, according to the report.
In his closing message to voters, Vindman urged supporters “to stand with me now to put a check on Donald Trump and the corrupt politicians who think your tax dollars are their personal piggybank.” The announcement sets up a major test for Florida Democrats as they attempt to translate a national-known impeachment figure into electoral momentum in a state that has not recently delivered Senate victories for their party.