Moody, Nixon battling it out to become only second woman from Florida elected to U.S. Senate

A race for United States Senate this November will determine who will take the seat once held by former Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.

It's currently filled by former Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, who was appointed when Rubio became Secretary of State.

Now, Florida State Rep. Angie Nixon is trying to take the seat from her.  

Nixon won the Democratic nomination on Aug. 18 after defeating Alex Vindman – an upset.

"We were outspent 16-to-1, and we won," she told her supporters that night.

CBS News Miami recently asked Nixon why she's running.

"We need to work toward ending the corruption that's happening in Washington, D.C., and elect someone who actually cares about people and will put people over profits and corporations, and that's why I'm running," she said.

The Republican Sen. Ashley Moody was quick to highlight Nixon's membership with the Democratic Socialists of America.

"My opponent will be a self-proclaimed socialist that proudly signed up and joined the Democratic Socialists of America," she told supporters on primary night.

Here's what Nixon said when asked if she is a socialist: "What I am is a woman who is fighting for her community, a woman who stands up to authoritarians and dictatorships."

Our repeated requests for an interview with Moody went unanswered. 

Here's what she has listed as some of her accomplishments in the past: "I've been delivering wins for you, for the people, keeping money in your pockets, no tax on tips, no tax on Social Security, child investment accounts for every American baby born – never been done before," Moody said. 

But she has been caught in the Hope Florida scandal.

A grand jury report, obtained exclusively by CBS News Miami, was critical of Moody. It concluded that when she was attorney general, she was aware of plans to divert $10 million intended for health insurance for poor children to two political action committees and the Republican Party of Florida.

She later issued a statement on X that read in part, "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."

Nixon says she will continue to focus her campaign on issues like affordability.

"Right now, the leading cause of bankruptcy is medical debt. People are going bankrupt because they are going to the doctor and because they are trying to stay alive," she said.

Moody recently highlighted efforts to keep transgender athletes out of women's sports.

"[Parents] have watched with concern as other girls and females have had to compete against males," she said.

Polls in this race have not been in agreement, with some showing Moody well in the lead and others showing Nixon coming close to a dead heat.

Whoever wins in November will become only the second woman elected to the U.S. Senate from Florida.