Alexander Vindman, whistleblower behind Donald Trump’s first impeachment, launches Senate campaign

Alexander Vindman, a whistleblower whose congressional testimony led to President Donald Trump’s first impeachment, is running for Senate in Florida.

A campaign launch video went live on Tuesday morning, recounting the actions that turned him from a little known White House employee to a national figure.

“I stood up when someone had to say no one is above the law,” Vindman said. “I’m asking you, stand with me now to put a check on Donald Trump.”

The Democrat has teased his candidacy for months, telling CBS News Miami in May that he was mulling a challenge to U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody.

The ad tallies Vindman’s military background as a 21-year combat veteran in the Army who received a Purple Heart after being wounded in Iraq, and later as a national security expert advising both Democratic and Republican Presidents

He took a swipe at Moody in the launch video, calling for restrictions on insider trading and suggesting the Republican incumbent profited from her time in public office.

“Over a million dollars in Moody’s corporate stock was traded last year while she had access to insider information only Congress gets. That should be outlawed,” Vindman said. “They gutted disaster assistance for people trying to rebuild their lives… but she’s okay with a $40 billion dollar bailout – for Argentina. Where’s the bailout for Florida families?”

Vindman enters the race with significant fundraising promise in part because his brother, U.S. Rep. Eugene Vindman, already serves as a member of Virginia’s congressional delegation. Eugene Vindman represents a swing seat in the Old Dominion area, where he raised more than $18 million to win the battleground in 2024. He has already raised more than $5.3 million for his own re-election.

But running for statewide office in Florida, an increasingly Republican-leaning state, will test the ability to raise capital on a different level.

Alexander Vindman does enter the race with a significant national profile. He served during Trump’s first term as Director of European Affairs for the National Security Council and listened to a phone call when Trump urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to launch an investigation of then-presidential candidate Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden. Vindman testified about that call to Congress, which directly led to the Democratic House impeaching Trump.

While Trump survived the impeachment attempt, he went on to lose re-election to Biden, though he won a second term in 2024. During the Ukraine scandal, Trump fired Vindman from the National Security Council. But the attention turned him into a national commentator.

Now, he’s running to represent Trump’s home state in the Senate.

Vindman enters a field that already includes some Democrats with significant statewide stature, most notably former Brevard County School Board member Jennifer Jenkins and state Rep. Angie Nixon. But he only mentions Moody in the ad.

Moody, who was appointed to her seat last year, has raised more than $4 million for the seat through Sept. 30.

“They put Moody in the Senate to be a ‘yes’ vote for Trump and the billionaires,” he said. “She’s not Florida’s Senator. She’s theirs.”

During two prior statewide runs for Attorney General, Moody raised $4.2 million in 2018 and $2 million in 2022, but her Friends of Ashley Moody state political committee supporting those runs raised $14 million over the two campaign cycles.