Buckle up, University of Florida students: it’s election season!
Maybe you haven’t heard a lot about this year’s election. No, there is no presidential race this year, so the media outlets and campaign managers are not attempting to spam you with every advertisement and promotion for what many consider “the biggest race in our country.”
It’s common for the average university student, or really just any citizen who’s not politically involved, to be unfamiliar with the extensive details of the election cycle. Especially in a state as vast as Florida, there are a multitude of state, county, and municipal elections occurring concurrently, so it can be overwhelming to distinguish between each and understand how new candidacies or policies will directly affect you.
So here I am, breaking the midterm general elections down, step-by-step, first for federal elections, and then for a variety of the most anticipated state elections in Florida (where thousands of our fellow Gators live). I’ll explain the who, the what, and the when/where, so you can feel more educated and prepared to enter this voting season.
But first, let’s answer the big question that you’re probably wondering: what are midterm elections?
Midterm elections are exactly what they sound like; they are in the middle of a president’s four-year presidential term, the halfway point between presidential elections. Thirty-five senators will be up for reelection alongside all 435 members of the House of Representatives. In short, the midterm election is a vital part of determining which political party will obtain a majority of congressional seats. This will likely have a huge impact and play a key role in the eventual 2028 presidential election. ([https://senatordb.com/elections/2026](https://senatordb.com/elections/2026))
The federal election: Who is running, why do they matter, and what makes it so special?
Senatorial:
As mentioned, there are 35 United States Senate candidates running for election; 33 of those seats are routinely up for election due to the end of a previous senator’s 6-year term, but two of those seats are up for a special election called by appointment, one being Florida’s. This means the winner will serve the vacant seat that was elected in 2022 for the remainder of the congressional term until January 2029.
Why is Florida up for a special election? In 2024, President Donald Trump nominated then-Senator Marco Rubio to serve as Secretary of State. In 2025, the Senate confirmed Rubio by a unanimous vote of 99-0. Rubio’s appointment to the executive cabinet subsequently removed him from his seat in Congress, leaving it vacant.
Currently, in the interim, Governor Ron DeSantis appointed Florida Attorney General Ashley B. Moody to fill Rubio’s spot, and she is now running as the Republican Party candidate to secure the Senator seat for a full term. Moody has a complicated relationship with President Trump, previously having been involved in a lawsuit against him in 2011. But, she later worked in promoting his campaign in the 2020 election, supporting a lawsuit to invalidate the presidential election results in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, which were all won by Biden. Moody has previously worked to help influence legislation as Attorney General; in 2022, she helped challenge a proposed marijuana legalization measure from appearing on the ballot and attempted to do so again in 2024. She also challenged a 2024 ballot measure that would have expanded abortion rights. While the measure remained on the ballot, it did not pass. Moody has also faced scrutiny over the Hope Florida Scandal, involving $10 million from a $67 million settlement with Medicaid vendor Centene Corporation. The money was misdirected through an agreement approved by Moody’s office.
The Democratic candidate, Angie Nixon, has served in the Florida House of Representatives since 2020, representing part of Duval County. In 2022, she staged a sit-in to protest a vote on redistricting Florida’s congressional district maps, but was unsuccessful. She continued to criticize the maps during a congressional redistricting debate in May 2026. Then, she attempted to stage another sit-in in DeSantis’s office (who approved the newly redrawn congressional maps) and was arrested. Nixon has also spoken out about the Israel-Hamas conflict. In 2023, she called for the release of hostages Hamas retained and attempted to de-escalate the conflict. Her campaign supports universal healthcare and a $25 minimum wage.
Currently, the election results are looking very strong for Moody, with multiple prediction polls putting her at an 85% chance of winning with a +6.3 projected margin.
House of Representatives:
DeSantis’s approval of redrawn congressional districts in May has completely changed the voting demographics. Despite being challenged in court as a violation of the Fair Districts Amendment, they were approved to be used in this year’s election. While all seats for the United States House of Representatives are up for reelection, including all 28 of Florida’s, some have been impacted by the congressional redistricting more significantly than others. One race drawing particular attention is the 25th District.
The 25th District, represented by Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, once included southern parts of Broward. Now, it stretches along the coasts of Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties. The new 25th District is composed of more Republican-leaning areas. So, the new political makeup of the district makes it one to watch. So who is running?
Democrat Jared Moskowitz, the interim United States representative for Florida’s 23rd District, runs for election in the 25th District. Moskowitz has been vocal about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, voting for a $14.3 billion aid package to Israel, and introducing an amendment barring the Biden administration from citing Gaza Health Ministry death tolls. During his time in Congress, he served on the Foreign Affairs and Oversight and Accountability committees, and on a bipartisan task force investigating the attempted shooting of President Trump. Moskowitz beat democratic socialist opponent Oliver Larkin in the primary elections.
Republican candidate Scott Singer, the former mayor of Boca Raton from 2018–2026, is the other strongest contender for the 25th District election. He criticized his rivals in the primary elections for “lacking ties to the district” , while he was born in Miami and raised in Fort Lauderdale, having lived in the counties that make up District 25. Singer claims to be adamantly pro-Israel, and disgusted by “the anti-Israel position that has now taken hold in the Democratic party” Singer continues to advocate for increased military spending alongside heavy border security and mass deportations, claiming that the previous administration endorsed unsafe crossing.
Peter Jassenoff is the Libertarian Party nominee for Florida’s 25th congressional district. He does not have a campaign website, and is only listed on the official state candidate registry.
Governor Race
DeSantis is finishing his second term and is ineligible to run for reelection, serving as governor since 2018. In 2022, DeSantis won his reelection by 19.4%, meaning the Republican Party has won all gubernatorial elections since 1998. Candidates for governor must be at least 30 years old and have been a permanent resident of Florida for at least seven years.
Endorsed by DeSantis, the favored candidate to win is Republican nominee Byron Donalds. Since 2021, Donalds has served as the representative for Florida’s 19th congressional district, and has picked running mate Bryan Avila, former Florida state senator. If Donalds is elected, he will become Florida’s first African American governor, and one of the first in the South. Throughout his previous campaign, he said that he is a “Trump-supporting, gun-owning, liberty-loving, pro-life, politically incorrect Black man.” Donalds rejected the 2020 presidential election, claiming that Joe Biden was not the legitimate president of the United States. In August 2023, Donalds questioned the federal government’s response to recovery efforts for Hurricane Ian in 2022 and claimed that made recovery efforts difficult. Donalds has been banned from joining the Congressional Black Caucus and has said, “You see, during Jim Crow, the black family was together. During Jim Crow, more black people were not just conservative—black people have always been conservative-minded—but more black people voted conservative” .
The Democratic nominee for the Florida gubernatorial race, David Jolly, served as a former Republican U.S. representative for Florida’s 13th congressional district from 2013–2017. He runs with running mate former Democratic congresswoman for Florida’s 2nd congressional district, Gwen Graham. Jolly was one of the first Republicans to openly critique President Donald Trump and officially left the Republican Party in September 2018. Jolly served on the Committee on Appropriations, and its multiple subcommittees including the Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies during his time in Congress. Since his departure from congressional office, he has worked for news stations such asCNN and MSNBC, being openly critical of Donald Trump. Jolly was proactive in his time in the House of Representatives, and introduced the “Veterans Health Care Freedom Act” bill in July 2015. He claims during his campaigning as governor that he proposes an extensive 10-year plan to completely transform public education in Florida, increasing teacher pay by 30% to move it closer to the national average. While Jolly is an adamant Christian, in July 2014, he declared his support for same-sex marriage legislation, emphasizing that he believes there should be limited government intervention in matters like marriage.
What now?
Well, Election Day is November 3, 2026, and it is your opportunity to have your voice heard. The deadline to register to vote is October 5, 2026. If you are still registered at your home address, don’t forget to request a ballot by October 22, 2026 at 5 p.m. If you are registered to vote in Gainesville, you too can request a mail-in ballot, or find your voting district location on dos.fl.gov.