Jennifer Jenkins drops out of Senate race, endorses Alex Vindman

Democrat Jennifer Jenkins has dropped out of Florida’s U.S. Senate race and endorsed Alex Vindman.

“I’m so proud of this campaign and the fight we started. Florida is too important to stay divided, which is why I’ve decided to step aside and proudly endorse Alex Vindman for U.S. Senate,” she posted on X.

She also signaled an announcement in coming days about her own political future.

Vindman, a whistleblower whose congressional testimony led to President Donald Trump’s first impeachment, launched his own Senate campaign this week and raised $1.7 million in his first 24 hours on the trail.

In contrast, Jenkins, a former Brevard County School Board member, launched her campaign in September. While her fourth-quarter fundraising report is not yet available, Jenkins in September of last year raised about $172,000 for a statewide run.

That made Jenkins the top fundraiser among nine Democrats in the race before Jenkins launched based on publicly available fundraising. But it was a fraction of what Vindman, a national figure whose brother, Eugene, already serves in Congress, had raised in a day.

Jenkins notably issued a social media post welcoming Vindman to the contest this week and signaled an interest in staying in the race. “The campaign we’re building is about fighting with urgency to make Florida a place that everyone can afford and where extremism has no home,” she posted Tuesday.

Jenkins had entered the race with a greater statewide profile than most School Board members enjoy. In 2020, she unseated Brevard County School Board member Tina Descovich, a prominent conservative and ally of Gov. Ron DeSantis who went on to found Moms for Liberty.

She also frequently was at odds publicly with controversial lawmaker Randy Fine, a Republican who won a seat last year in the U.S. House.

Vindman remains in a Primary that most notably includes state Rep. Angie Nixon. The Jacksonville Democrat entered the race last week and has not announced fundraising numbers.

The Democrats are seeking to challenge U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody, a Plant City Republican appointed to the Senate seat by DeSantis last year to fill a vacancy left when Marco Rubio was confirmed as Secretary of State.

The same day Jenkins dropped out, Sabato’s Crystal Ball shifted its rating for the Senate race in Democrats’ favor, but still lists the Florida contest as “Likely Republican.” Moody through September raised more than $4 million to run in 2026. The election will determine who serves what would have been Rubio’s final two years before the seat goes back up for a full six-year term.