Alex Vindman, who became a key player along with his twin brother in President Donald Trump's first impeachment, announced on Tuesday that he is running for the U.S. Senate as a Democrat in Florida.
Vindman, an Army veteran, was serving on the National Security Council in 2019 when the Republican president pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate Joe Biden, then a Democratic candidate. He and his brother, Eugene, a lawyer on the National Security Council, reported their concerns and sparked investigations.
Eugene Vindman now serves as a congressman from Virginia. If Alex Vindman clinches the Democratic nomination, he'll challenge Republican Sen. Ashley Moody, a former state attorney general who was appointed to fill the seat vacated by Marco Rubio as he became secretary of state.
The winner of November's special election will finish the last two years of Rubio's term.
Vindman described Trump as a “wannabe tyrant” and federal immigration agents as “thug militias” in his announcement video, which features the recent killing of two U.S. citizens during the deportation campaign in Minnesota.
Vindman was forced out of the National Security Council and later retired from the Army after testifying against Trump during impeachment hearings. He said “this president unleashed a reign of terror and retribution, not just against me and my family but against all of us.”
He urged voters to “stand with me now to put a check on Donald Trump and the corrupt politicians who think your tax dollars are their personal piggybank.”
Vindman becomes the most prominent Democrat in the Florida Senate contest as the party tries to reclaim the Senate majority in this fall's midterm elections.
Their task in Florida will not be easy. The onetime swing state, which is Trump's legal residence, has swung decidedly red in recent years. A Democrat has not won a Senate seat there since 2012.
Still, Democrats are hopeful that Vindman's fundraising prowess and the national political environment — including the backlash against Trump's immigration crackdown and his lack of focus on the economy — gives them a chance.
Trump denied any wrongdoing when he was impeached, and he was acquitted by the Senate. He later was impeached over the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and again was acquitted.
FILE - Former National Security Council Director for European Affairs Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman walks at the Capitol to review transcripts of his testimony in the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump, in Washington, Nov. 7, 2019. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
FILE - National Security Council aide Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman testifies before the House Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Nov. 19, 2019, during a public impeachment hearing of President Donald Trump's efforts to tie U.S. aid for Ukraine to investigations of his political opponents. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Thousands gathered in Serbia 's capital on Tuesday accusing the government of a crackdown on universities which have been a main force behind a campaign that has shaken autocratic President Aleksandar Vucic 's rule.
Protesters rallied outside the headquarters of the University of Belgrade on what was a national day of education. The peaceful gathering, dubbed “Knowledge is power," was in support of scores of professors and teachers who have lost their jobs or positions for taking part in the anti-government demonstrations.
“No government in our history has treated members of the academic community with such arrogance, vengeance and malice and only because the academic community refused to be silent,” Vladan Djokic, the head dean of the university, told the crowd.
The student-led demonstrations were sparked by the collapse in the northern city of Novi Sad of a concrete railway station canopy that killed 16 people in November 2024. Many Serbs blamed the disaster on an alleged corruption-fueled disregard for safety rules during renovation work on the building.
The national protests have become the most sustained and numerous in Serbia for years, drawing hundreds of thousands of people. Vucic has refused to schedule an immediate early election as protesters have demanded but has stepped up pressure on protesters instead.
The Belgrade rally came days after riot police evicted protesting students from a faculty building in Novi Sad in a demonstration of force against possible attempts to renew university strikes. Dozens of police pushed their way into the faculty building and forced the students out, some of whom accused the police of violence.
Djokic also cited financial and legal pressure from the government on universities as well as frequent attacks on protesting professors and students, who are described by officials and pro-government media as “terrorists.”
He urged his colleagues to “resist the pressure and preserve the dignity of our profession through personal example.”
Earlier on Tuesday, several faculties in Belgrade suspended classes for the day in protest.
Serbia has faced international criticism over reports of excessive force and arbitrary detentions of protesters. Vucic is formally seeking European Union entry for Serbia while strengthening ties with Russia and China amid accusations of clamping down on democratic freedoms.
This story has been corrected to show the first name of the University of Belgrade head dean is Vladan, not Vladimir.
People wave a Greenland and Danish flags during a protest against a government crackdown on universities that have been a main force behind more than a year of protests shaking autocratic President Aleksandar Vucic's rule, in Belgrade, Serbia, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Led by university students, people attend a protest against a government crackdown on universities that have been a main force behind more than a year of protests shaking autocratic President Aleksandar Vucic's rule, in Belgrade, Serbia, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
