The Centrist Independent Voter endorses retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Alex Vindman in Florida’s August 18 Democratic primary for the United States Senate.
Vindman faces state Representative Angie Nixon for the nomination to challenge Republican Senator Ashley Moody. Florida uses a closed primary, so only registered Democrats will choose between them.
Vindman offers a combination of national-security expertise, personal courage and commitment to constitutional government that is unusually well suited to the present moment.
He served in the United States Army for 21 years, was wounded in Iraq and received the Purple Heart. He later served on the National Security Council staff, advising presidents of both parties on Ukraine and European security.
Vindman is best known for reporting Donald Trump’s effort to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for personal political assistance. He understood that reporting presidential misconduct could end his career, but concluded that his obligation to the Constitution was more important. Trump’s retaliation ultimately did cost him his military career.
That record matters. The Senate needs members willing to oversee the executive branch, defend legitimate elections and evaluate presidential conduct according to law rather than party loyalty.
Vindman’s professional experience would also be valuable as the United States confronts Russia’s continuing aggression against Ukraine, instability in the Middle East and growing threats from authoritarian governments. His campaign supports American allies while warning against poorly defined wars without achievable objectives or congressional accountability.
CIVPAC will not agree with Vindman on every domestic issue.
His campaign too readily attributes high prices to corporate misconduct and supports federal action against “price gouging.” High prices and high profits do not by themselves demonstrate unlawful behavior. Government should act against fraud, collusion and the acquisition or exercise of monopoly power, but it should not ordinarily decide whether prices are warranted.
Vindman also describes health care as a right, supports expanding federal health programs and proposes restrictions on institutional investors purchasing homes. Those positions involve more government direction of markets than CIVPAC generally favors.
His opponent, however, is considerably farther from CIVPAC’s principles.
Nixon proposes Medicare for All, free childcare, a national rent freeze, an eviction moratorium, a federal jobs guarantee, tuition-free public college, cancellation of student debt and a five-percent annual wealth tax on billionaires. She supports the PRO Act, repeal of right-to-work laws and extensive expansion of organized labor’s political and economic power.
CIVPAC does not regard union support as presumptively favorable. Workers should remain free to organize, but public policy should not force workers into unions, weaken employer rights or transfer excessive political power to labor organizations.
Vindman has lived in Florida only since 2023, and his domestic-policy experience is limited. Those are legitimate concerns. But Senate candidates should also be evaluated according to the experience they would bring to national office. Vindman has spent his adult life serving the United States and has already demonstrated the independence and courage the Senate urgently requires.
He is also plainly the stronger general-election candidate. Florida has become a difficult state for Democrats, and a nominee offering only a conventional left-wing program is unlikely to rebuild support among independents and disaffected Republicans. Vindman can credibly speak to voters who value military service, national security, democratic institutions and resistance to political corruption.
Alex Vindman is not a perfect CIVPAC candidate. He is, however, an exceptionally compelling candidate for the United States Senate and far preferable to his principal opponent.
The Centrist Independent Voter endorses Alex Vindman in Florida’s Democratic primary for the United States Senate.