Josh Weil, the Democrat who ran in the special election for Florida’s 6th congressional district this year, has announced he’s running for U.S. Senate in 2026. Weil will seek to unseat Ashley Moody, who was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to replace Marco Rubio after he was chosen to be President Donald Trump’s secretary of state.
“I’m running because Floridians are suffering,” Weil said in a prepared statement. “People can’t afford to live here anymore. Rent, health care, gas, home insurance — everything is more expensive than ever and politicians are making it worse. Ashley Moody is putting politics over Floridians.”
The 2025 FL-6 congressional election happened after Trump chose the district’s previous congressman, Michael Waltz, to serve as his national security advisor (he’s now the unconfirmed United Nations ambassador nominee). Waltz resigned in January, setting up a special election to fill out the remainder of his term until the next regularly-scheduled election in 2026.
“I want my two boys and the kids I teach to have a good life, but the kinds of opportunities I had growing up are slipping away,” Weil continued. “In the Senate, I’ll fight every day for Florida families like you — for affordability, for health care and good schools, for hurricane protection, for Social Security — and together we’ll turn Florida around.”
The 2025 FL-6 Special Congressional Election
The Republicans of the district nominated state legislator Randy Fine, while the Democrats chose former Senate candidate and educator Josh Weil. Florida’s 6th congressional district, which covers all or part of Flagler, Lake, Marion, Putnam, St. Johns, and Volusia counties, has been reliably Republican for over three decades straight.
Though Weil was initially given little hope to flip the district blue, poll numbers approaching the April 1st election indicated it could be more competitive than in previous years. Weil raised $15.6 million for the race, far exceeding Fine’s showing of $2.6 million according to the Federal Election Commission.
Weil ultimately failed in his attempt to flip Florida’s 6th district blue, garnering 42.7% of the vote against Fine’s 56.7%. Still, he had the highest percentage of the vote for a Democrat in the district since Nancy Soderberg in 2018; this was also the next most recent year the race had no incumbent Republican. Weil’s performance came only two and a half years after there was no Democratic candidate in FL-6.
Ashley Moody’s Path to the Senate
Weil’s opponent if he becomes the Democratic nominee will be Ashley Moody, currently in her first year as a senator. Moody’s career in politics began when she ran for Florida attorney general in 2018. Having previously served as assistant U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Florida, she won the general election against Democrat Sean Shaw with 52.1% of the vote.
Ashley Moody (right) with Gov. Ron DeSantis when she was announced as Florida’s next U.S. senator. ⓒ Florida Governor’s Office
Moody served as attorney general for most of the governorship of Ron DeSantis, closely aligning with him on some of Florida’s key political issues. In 2022 and 2024 she sued for the disqualification of two state ballot measures for the legalization of recreational marijuana, succeeding in the first instance. She sued the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2021 over requirements that 95% of cruise ship passengers be vaccinated against COVID-19.
In January 2025 Gov. DeSantis announced he’d be choosing Moody to serve as Florida’s U.S. senator with the seat’s impending vacancy as Marco Rubio departed to serve as secretary of state. Her appointment only lasts until 2026, at which point a special election will be held to decide who holds the seat for the final two years of the six-year term Rubio won in 2022.
Election Overview
One other Republican has declared their candidacy as of Thursday: Jake Lang, a podcaster who was pardoned in January for his participation in the U.S. Capitol riots on January 6th, 2021. Lang was allegedly captured on camera wielding a riot shield and aluminum baseball bat. No other Democrats are filed to run, nor have any prominent third-party candidates emerged.
Moody has already obtained the endorsements of several political heavyweights in Florida, including Senator Rick Scott and U.S. representatives Vern Buchanan and Laurel Lee. Furthermore, she’s been endorsed by sheriffs Mike Chitwood of Volusia County, Rosie Cordero-Stutz of Miami-Dade County, and Grady Judd of Polk County among others. Even three Democratic sheriffs have endorsed Moody: Palm Beach County’s Ric Bradshaw, Orange County’s John Mina, and Gadsden COunty’s Morris A. Young.
