From Newsweek:
Nixon Hits Hard as GOP Rival Linked to $10M Florida Scandal—What Polls Show
PUBLISHED
AUG 27, 2026 AT 12:28 PM EDT
UPDATED
AUG 27, 2026 AT 04:37 PM EDT
Florida Democratic Senate candidate Angie Nixon criticized Republican Senator Ashley Moody after a grand jury report named Moody in a plan to move $10 million from a Medicaid settlement to the Hope Florida Foundation, a nonprofit set up by Florida first lady Casey DeSantis.
Once a battleground state, Florida has shifted to Republicans over the past decade, and Moody has been seen as the favorite in her race against state Representative Nixon, a democratic socialist who won the party’s primary earlier in August. Moody, the former Florida attorney general, was appointed to her new role after then-Senator Marco Rubio was appointed secretary of state in the Trump administration and now faces an election in November to finish the current term.
PUBLISHED
AUG 27, 2026 AT 12:28 PM EDT
UPDATED
AUG 27, 2026 AT 04:37 PM EDT
Florida Democratic Senate candidate Angie Nixon criticized Republican Senator Ashley Moody after a grand jury report named Moody in a plan to move $10 million from a Medicaid settlement to the Hope Florida Foundation, a nonprofit set up by Florida first lady Casey DeSantis.
Once a battleground state, Florida has shifted to Republicans over the past decade, and Moody has been seen as the favorite in her race against state Representative Nixon, a democratic socialist who won the party’s primary earlier in August. Moody, the former Florida attorney general, was appointed to her new role after then-Senator Marco Rubio was appointed secretary of state in the Trump administration and now faces an election in November to finish the current term.
What Grand Jury Report Said About Senator Moody
CBS Miami published a sealed grand jury report Wednesday from an investigation into the funds. It focuses on the $10 million from a settlement between Florida and Centene, a state vendor for Medicaid. The $10 million was sent to the Hope Florida Foundation, and parts of those funds were later transferred to political groups, according to the report. It concluded that the funds were “misappropriated.”
CBS Miami published a sealed grand jury report Wednesday from an investigation into the funds. It focuses on the $10 million from a settlement between Florida and Centene, a state vendor for Medicaid. The $10 million was sent to the Hope Florida Foundation, and parts of those funds were later transferred to political groups, according to the report. It concluded that the funds were “misappropriated.”
Politics
The report said jurors heard testimony from former Chief Deputy Attorney General John Guard, who served while Moody was the attorney general. He said he had raised “political concerns about the dedication of $10,000,000 to Hope Florida.”
Guard said he shared those concerns with Moody “because he knew the deal would be viewed by the legislature as a constraint on their spending authority.”
“His political concerns were resolved by the change to the agreement making the settlement AHCA's agreement rather than the AG's settlement agreement, as the problem would now be AHCA's problem rather than the AG's problem. He signed the agreement releasing the claims on behalf of the Attorney General's Office, but according to him, it was not his settlement, it was AHCA's settlement,” the report reads.
The grand jury report did not suggest Moody knew the funds would later be transferred to political organizations after they were sent to the foundation. The grand jury began its probe in August 2025.
Craig Burnett, professor and chair of political science at Florida Atlantic University, told Newsweek it could hurt Moody’s campaign but it is “hard to know” by how much.
“This is where the senator’s challenger plays the largest role. Angie Nixon has been making corruption a major part of her campaign, and it seemed to work with Democratic primary voters,” he said. “If she is able to turn this report and any subsequent revelations into a steady drumbeat of bad headlines, it will hurt more. If this dies a quiet death after a normal news cycle, less so, but it remains a stump speech regular.”
Ashley Moody Responds to Grand Jury Report
Moody addressed the report in a post on X.
“There have been numerous reports that misrepresent the facts surrounding an AHCA settlement agreement that has been available to the public for two years,” she wrote.
he said the settlement agreement was “negotiated by AHCA, a Florida healthcare agency" and “made clear how settlement money would be dispersed, to include funds going to Hope Florida." Her office “was one of multiple agencies that signed the final agreement for execution and release of claims," she said.
“The AG’s office had no knowledge of how funds would be spent or played any role in how Hope Florida, AHCA, or the legislature would spend the settlement money. Attempts to characterize this any other way are disingenuous,” she wrote.
A spokesperson pointed to her post when contacted by Newsweek on Thursday.
Governor Ron DeSantis' Communications Director Alex Lanfranconi wrote in a statement to Newsweek, "This baseless smear has been debunked over and over again. In fact, if any confidential grand jury report was leaked to the press, that’s the only crime committed."
The administration has faced scrutiny over the $10 million to the Hope Florida Foundation, whose goal is to help move Florida residents off government aidby connecting them with faith-based or charitable organizations. The grand jury report alleged that the money was spent on a political campaign and went to the Republican Party of Florida.
Angie Nixon Calls on Moody's Resignation
The grand jury report quickly became a political issue in the Senate race, with Nixon calling for Moody’s resignation after the grand jury report was published
“None of this is leadership. None of this shows good judgment. None of this shows courage. Instead, it is deep, disgusting corruption. Ashley Moody has proven she will sell out vulnerable Florida families if she thinks it gives her or her extremist friends more power. She has broken the public trust, and she must resign immediately,” Nixon wrote in a statement provided to Newsweek.
Ashley Moody vs. Angie Nixon: What Polls Show
Burnett said he believes the race will be “closer than one might guess.”
“Liberal candidates are energizing voters. Nixon won her primary on a shoestring budget. Many voters don’t know her yet, so she will poll lower. But, she represents change,” he said.
No polling has been published since Nixon’s primary victory, but some prior surveys showed Moody with a lead over Nixon. A University of North Florida poll showed Moody with an 8-point lead over Nixon, 50 percent to 42 percent. It surveyed 848 likely voters from July 8 to 17, 2026, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points. It was first reported by Florida Politics.
A poll from the Stetson University Center for Public Opinion Research showed Moody up 13 points, 51 percent to 38 percent. It surveyed 848 Florida adults from March 25 to April 13, 2026, and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.
Moody is also favored in prediction markets.
As of Thursday morning, Moody had a 91.5 percent chance of victory over Nixon on Kalshi. On Polymarket, she had a 92 percent chance, suggesting traders view her as a strong favorite to win reelection.
Prediction markets let traders buy and sell contracts tied to political outcomes and current events, aggregating real-money wagers into probability estimates. Prices fluctuate as traders react to polling, fundraising, candidate developments and broader political trends. They measure trader sentiment at a given moment but do not always predict the future accurately.
A Former Battleground
For much of the 2000s, Florida was one of the nation's most contested states. It narrowly voted for Presidents George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004 and Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012. In 2016, President Donald Trump won it by only about a point. But it has steadily shifted rightward since, backing him in 2020 and 2024, by 13 points in his most recent election.
Republicans have gained ground in the state by making inroads among Latino voters, flipping traditionally Democratic areas, including Miami-Dade County. Meanwhile, an influx of conservative retirees has also added to Republicans’ advantage. Those victories allowed Republicans to enact a wave of conservative policies that may also draw Republican voters fleeing more left-leaning states.
Republicans have also expanded their voter registration advantage, while Democrats have struggled to remain competitive in statewide races. As of July 31, Florida had 5,607,836 registered Republicans and 4,066,503 registered Democrats, plus 3,327,656 "no party affiliation" voters, according to the Florida Division of Elections.
What Happens Next
It remained unclear whether the report would significantly affect the Florida Senate race. Forecasters have given Moody an advantage, with the Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball both considering it solid or safe for Moody.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Gabe Whisnant, Sam Wilson, Gray R. Thomas.
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