MIAMI — Florida’s primary election delivered a complicated but consequential message about Black political power Tuesday night.

There was disappointment in South Florida, particularly in Congressional District 20, where the Democratic primary ended with U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz defeating four Black candidates in a district with a long tradition of Black representation.

But elsewhere, Black candidates scored significant victories from Miami-Dade County to the top of Florida’s statewide ballot.

Miami-Dade County Commissioner Oliver Gilbert III captured the Democratic nomination for Florida’s 24th Congressional District. State Rep. Angie Nixon pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the Florida primary, defeating the heavily financed Alexander Vindman for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate.

Former state Rep. James Bush III won the Democratic primary for Florida House District 109. Former state Rep. Daphne Campbell won the Democratic nomination in House District 108. And state Rep. Ashley Gantt emerged from the Democratic primary for state Senate District 34.

On the Republican side, U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds won his party’s nomination for governor, putting a Black candidate within reach of becoming Florida’s first Black governor.

The victories came from candidates with vastly different political philosophies, constituencies and paths to power. But taken together, they demonstrated something important:

Black political power in Florida remains very much alive.

Oliver Gilbert’s Moment

Few victories carried greater significance for South Florida than Gilbert’s.

Gilbert won a crowded Democratic primary in Congressional District 24 to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson. State Sen. Shevrin Jones, Gilbert’s closest competitor, conceded Tuesday night before The Associated Press projected Gilbert the winner.

Gilbert will face Republican Te Brown in the Nov. 3 general election.

For Gilbert, 53, the victory represents the next stage of a public-service career built in the heart of Miami-Dade County’s Black community.

He served three terms as mayor of Miami Gardens before joining the Miami-Dade County Commission, where he later served as chairman. That experience allowed Gilbert to campaign not simply on what he wanted to accomplish in Washington but on a record of governing.

The distinction mattered.

Gilbert emerged from one of South Florida’s most competitive congressional primaries by convincing voters that experience, relationships and a record of delivering results still carry weight in an era when political campaigns are increasingly dominated by personalities and national ideological battles.

His victory also carries significance beyond his own political future.

Wilson has represented District 24 since 2011 and has been one of Florida’s most recognizable Black members of Congress. With her retirement, the question of who would succeed her became a question about whether the district would maintain that tradition of Black congressional representation.

Gilbert’s victory puts him in position to continue it.

And on a night when Black representation suffered a significant setback in neighboring District 20, that matters.

Angie Nixon Defies the Money

If Gilbert’s victory was one of the biggest political stories in South Florida, Angie Nixon’s victory was one of the biggest stories in Florida.

Nixon defeated Vindman for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate despite entering the final stretch of the campaign at an enormous financial disadvantage.

Vindman, a former Army officer who became nationally known for his role in the first impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump, entered the race with national recognition and millions of dollars.

Nixon entered with something different.

She had a grassroots political identity built during her years as a union organizer, community activist and member of the Florida House.

And on Tuesday, it was enough.

Nixon’s victory was not merely a narrow escape by an underfunded candidate. It was a convincing rejection of the assumption that the candidate with the most money, biggest national profile and strongest establishment connections would necessarily prevail.

She now advances to face Republican U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody in November.

The historical implications are difficult to overstate.

If Nixon wins the general election, she would become the first Black person to represent Florida in the United States Senate.

Florida has one of the largest Black populations in America. Yet the state has never elected a Black U.S. senator.

Nixon now has an opportunity to change that.

Her general election campaign will be considerably more difficult. Republicans have dominated Florida statewide elections in recent cycles, and Moody will enter the race with substantial political and financial advantages.

But Nixon has already demonstrated that conventional political assumptions do not always determine election outcomes.

She was outspent.

She was underestimated.

And she won.

James Bush III Wins in District 109

Black candidates also posted important victories farther down the ballot.

James Bush III won the Democratic primary for Florida House District 109, capturing 49.22% of the vote and defeating John H. Taylor Jr., who finished second with 32.07%.

The victory represents a political comeback for Bush, a veteran educator and former state representative who previously served in the Florida Legislature.

Bush’s return to the political stage is particularly noteworthy because District 109 includes communities where education, housing affordability, economic opportunity and access to government services remain central concerns.

His victory also adds another experienced Black political voice to the Democratic legislative ranks heading toward November.

In neighboring House District 108, Daphne Campbell won the Democratic nomination, adding another familiar name to the list of Black candidates advancing from Tuesday’s primary.

Meanwhile, Ashley Gantt, currently a member of the Florida House, emerged from the Democratic primary for state Senate District 34, putting her in position to move from the House to the Senate.

Together, those victories demonstrated that the pipeline of Black elected leadership in Miami-Dade remains substantial — from the Florida House and Senate to the United States Congress.

Byron Donalds and a Different Kind of History

The night’s Black political victories were not confined to Democrats.

Republican U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds won the Republican nomination for governor, setting up a November contest against Democratic nominee David Jolly.

Donalds’ victory carries its own historic implications.

If elected, he could become Florida’s first Black governor.

His politics could hardly be more different from Nixon’s. Donalds is a conservative Republican and close ally of President Trump. Nixon represents the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.

Yet their simultaneous victories reveal something increasingly significant about Black political life in Florida.

Black candidates are no longer pursuing political power exclusively through one ideological lane.

Donalds will campaign for governor from the right.

Nixon will campaign for the Senate from the left.

And both could make Florida history.

David Jolly, a former Republican congressman who became a Democrat, won the Democratic gubernatorial nomination and will face Donalds in November.

The Donalds-Jolly contest now gives Florida voters a stark choice about the state’s direction after Gov. Ron DeSantis leaves office because of term limits.

Victory Alongside Loss

Tuesday’s victories should be celebrated, but they should not obscure what happened in Congressional District 20.

There, four Black candidates — Dale Holness, Elijah Manley, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick and Luther “Uncle Luke” Campbell — divided a majority of the Democratic primary vote while Wasserman Schultz captured the nomination with a plurality.

It was perhaps the clearest example Tuesday night of the difference between possessing political strength and effectively organizing it.

District 20 demonstrated the consequences of fragmentation.

District 24 demonstrated the power of consolidation behind a winner.

And Nixon demonstrated that Black political power can extend beyond predominantly Black districts and compete statewide.

Those lessons should not be ignored.

A New Political Landscape

There is a tendency after elections to reduce everything to red and blue, Republican and Democrat, liberal and conservative.

Tuesday’s results tell a more complicated story.

Black candidates won from different ideological positions and at different levels of government.

Gilbert’s victory puts him on the doorstep of Congress.

Nixon’s victory places a Black woman at the top of Florida’s Democratic statewide ticket for the U.S. Senate.

Bush and Campbell won important Florida House primaries.

Gantt is advancing in her effort to move into the Florida Senate.

And Donalds is now one general election away from potentially becoming Florida’s first Black governor.

None of these candidates should be viewed as politically interchangeable simply because they are Black. Their philosophies, records and visions for Florida differ substantially.

But representation matters.

So does access to political power.

And on Tuesday night, Black candidates demonstrated that they can compete for that power at virtually every level of government in Florida.

The lesson of the 2026 Florida primary, therefore, is not simply one of victory or defeat.

It is a lesson about organization, strategy, turnout and opportunity.

District 20 showed what can happen when political power is fragmented.

District 24 showed what can happen when voters coalesce around a candidate.

And Angie Nixon showed what can happen when a candidate who is dramatically outspent convinces voters that their voices can be more powerful than campaign money.

For Black Florida, Tuesday night produced losses that should prompt serious reflection.

But it also produced victories worth recognizing.

Oliver Gilbert is moving closer to Congress. Angie Nixon is running for the United States Senate. James Bush III is seeking a return to Tallahassee. Ashley Gantt is pursuing a seat in the Florida Senate. And Byron Donalds is running to become governor.

They represent different parties, different philosophies and different visions of Florida.

But collectively, their victories demonstrated something that should not be overlooked after Tuesday’s election:

Black political power in Florida is changing. It is expanding. And despite significant setbacks, it remains a force that neither political party can afford to ignore.