Alexander Vindman — the retired Army lieutenant colonel whose testimony provided critical evidence in the first impeachment of President Donald Trump — announced Tuesday he is seeking the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate from Florida.
Vindman, who now lives in Broward, described Trump in his announcement as a “wannabe tyrant” and painted appointed U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody, the Republican he hopes to replace, as a tool of billionaire special interests.
His announcement video includes images about and statements from the candidate on issues ranging from immigration enforcement in Minnesota to affordability pressures facing Floridians.
“Today, our country is in chaos. Thug militias attacking citizens. Tariffs pushing prices sky-high. Health care premiums through the roof. And Florida homeowners are being absolutely screwed because Ashley Moody caved to the big insurance companies,” Vindman said in the video. “They put Moody in the Senate to be a ‘yes’ vote for Trump and the billionaires. She’s not Florida’s senator. She’s theirs.”
“Stand with me now to put a check on Donald Trump and the corrupt politicians who think your tax dollars are their personal piggybank,” he said. “The billionaires and special interests will throw everything they’ve got to try to stop us. But in the infantry, we didn’t back down from a fight. In a democracy, you decide who’s gonna stand for you: The patriot, or the politician.”
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In words, video and still images, Vindman introduces himself by explaining his background — and his history with Trump.
Vindman had a 21-year career in the Army, including assignments in U.S. embassies in Moscow and in Kiev, Ukraine, and at the Pentagon and the White House. An infantry officer, he was wounded during a deployment to Iraq for combat operations, and was awarded a Purple Heart.
As a lieutenant colonel, his last assignment was director of European affairs for the National Security Council. It was in that role that he was one of the staffers listening to the now-infamous 2019 phone call in which Trump pushed President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine to come up with dirt on Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.
Joe Biden was the former vice president at the time and loomed as a political threat to Trump, eventually winning the presidency the next year.
During the call, which Trump famously called a “perfect” call, he threatened to withhold U.S. aid to Ukraine to get what he wanted.
Vindman reported his concerns through the chain of command and ultimately testified before a House committee that it was “improper for the president of the United States to demand a foreign government investigate a U.S. citizen and a political opponent” a move that “had significant national security implications from our country.”
The House of Representatives impeached Trump and the Senate acquitted him. Days later, Vindman and his twin brother were removed from their National Security Council jobs. With his promotion to full colonel blocked, he ultimately resigned his commission.
Using news clips about him, and images of him testifying in uniform, Vindman tells viewers of the video that “the last time you saw me was here. Swearing an oath to tell the truth about a president who broke his.”
As the video shows family pictures, Vindman said his “family came to America as refugees to escape tyranny, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to bow down to some wannabe tyrant. This president unleashed a reign of terror and retribution, not just against me and my family, but against all of us.”
The candidate
Vindman, now 50, and his family moved to Broward in 2023. He said in an interview last year he and his wife chose Broward because his best friend from his first military assignment grew up in Hollywood. When the friend finished his military service, he moved to Broward, and the Vindmans had been visiting for years.
In addition to his time in the spotlight because of the Trump impeachment, Vindman has another perspective about what a high profile candidacy is like. His twin brother, Eugene Vindman, was elected to the House of Representatives from Virginia in 2024.
Alexander Vindman has been a senior adviser with VoteVets, an organization that recruits and helps veterans run for office. He has also written a Substack column, posts videos and opines on social media, and delivers lectures and appears on podcasts.
Vindman also has written two bestselling books, “Here, Right Matters: An American Story,” published in 2021, and “The Folly of Realism: How the West Deceived Itself About Russia and Betrayed Ukraine,” released in 2025.
Win McNamee / Getty Images
Then-Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, former National Security Council Director for European Affairs, arrives to testify before the House Intelligence Committee on Nov. 19, 2019, in Washington, D.C. He is seeking the 2026 Democratic nomination to run for U.S. Senate in Florida. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Political outlook
Vindman has by far the biggest national profile among candidates in what has suddenly become a more crowded contest for the Democratic nomination.
Jennifer Jenkins, who excited and heartened Democrats when she defeated a conservative School Board member in Brevard County, announced her candidacy in September. State Rep. Angie Nixon of Jacksonville announced last week she was running.
Vindman spent much of 2025 considering a candidacy, and he has been traveling the state talking to Democratic Party groups.
Florida has a U.S. Senate election in 2026 because U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., resigned when he became Trump’s secretary of state. Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Moody to fill the vacancy, and she is running to keep it in Republican hands.
Democrats don’t have an easy path in Florida, where the nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the Senate race as “solid” Republican.
The Republican advantage in registered voters has been growing for several years in Florida, and now stands at 1.46 million. Democrats have won only two U.S. Senate races in Florida in the last two decades, in 2006 and 2012; Republicans have won five.
Still, Democrats profess optimism about the possibilities in Florida next year. The midterm election after a presidential race is usually good for the party that doesn’t control the White House.
A range of 2025 elections in Florida delivered a rebuke to Republicans, with Democratic candidates outperforming Trump’s 2024 margins by double digits. The swing gave Democrats a glimmer of hope, a sharp contrast to the despair many felt in the immediate aftermath of Trump’s victory.
Moody successfully ran statewide twice for her previous job, Florida attorney general. But the races have never been as high profile as the U.S. Senate, and the track record of appointed senators running to hold the seats isn’t as good as elected senators running for reelection.
Florida Republican candidates almost always have significantly more financial resources than the Democrats, but Vindman’s national profile will help him raise campaign money.
Political writer Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com and can be found @browardpolitics on Bluesky, Threads, Facebook and Mastodon.