House Effects
Monday, September 21, 202643 days until Election Day, November 3, 2026
Senate · 2026

Florida Senate (special)

Angie Nixon (D)v.Ashley Moody (R)LIKELY R

Incumbent: Ashley Moody, currently Republican.

Projected margin
R+7.4
Nine in ten outcomes: D+2 to R+16
Chance of winning
91%
Ashley Moody
Polls alone
R+4.1
7 polls from 6 pollsters; latest Sep 17. Weight in projection: 51%.
Fundamentals alone
R+11.0
Weight in projection: 49%.
Polls

The average over time

Each poll is first shifted by its sponsor's and its pollster's measured lean, then weighted by recency and track record. Sample size gets no weight: in 2,000-plus past races it predicted nothing about accuracy. Why.

R+15R+10R+5EvenD+5Mar ’26MayJulSepNovR+4.1Election Day
adjusted weighted average shading: which side the average favors each poll, as published party-aligned pollster or sponsor
Before any poll

What the fundamentals say

A regression on past Senate races, fit without looking at this year. The national environment term uses the generic ballot after its historical correction (D+5.3).

What each term adds to the estimate
BaselineD+0.5
Partisan leanR+8.7
National environmentD+3.3
IncumbencyR+1.8
Incumbent's last over/under-performance0.0
Fundraising gapR+4.3
Fundamentals estimateR+11.0
Input: partisan lean
R+11.6
Presidential vote relative to the nation, 2024 (and 2020).
Input: raised from itemized individual donors, through June 30
$177K D · $2.3M R
FEC filings; the model uses the log of the ratio.
Handicappers, for comparison
Cook: Safe R · Sabato: Safe R · Inside Elections: Safe R
Not an input to the projection.
Table view

All 7 polls in the average

“Share” is how much of today’s average each poll supplies. It depends on recency, the pollster’s record, whether the poll screens for likely voters, and how many other polls the same firm has in the race. It does not depend on sample size.

DatesPollsterSampleNixonMoodyAs publishedAdjustedShare of average
Sep 15–17St. Pete Polls
for Florida Politics
913 LV44.845.2EvenR+0.6
moved 0.2 toward R
28%
source
Sep 8–10Quantus Insights733 LV4350.4R+7R+7.1
moved 0.3 toward D
25%
source
Sep 7–9Change Research
for Freedom Project USA
1,107 LV4747EvenD+0.5
moved 0.5 toward D
24%
source
Jul 8–17University of North Florida Public Opinion Research Lab848 LV41.650R+8R+8.2
moved 0.2 toward D
13%
source
Mar 25 – Apr 13Stetson University Center for Public Opinion Research414 LV3851R+13R+12.9
moved 0.1 toward D
4.2%
source
Mar 29–31Emerson College1,125 LV36.347.3R+11R+11.0
4.6%
source
Feb 21 – Mar 2University of North Florida Public Opinion Research Lab768 LV3846R+8R+7.8
moved 0.2 toward D
1.2%
source

LV: likely voters. RV: registered voters. A: all adults. “Adjusted” is the published margin after removing the sponsor shift and the pollster’s measured house effect; the small print says how far that moved the poll. Dem.-aligned and Rep.-aligned mark polls paid for by a party, a campaign, or an allied group, or taken by a firm whose published work is mostly for one side. They are shifted by the average lean of such polls, then counted at full weight.

History

Recent results for this office

YearDemocratRepublicanResult
2024Debbie Mucarsel-PowellRick ScottR+12.8
2022Val DemingsMarco RubioR+16.4
2018Bill NelsonRick ScottR+0.1
2016Patrick MurphyMarco RubioR+7.7