Sitting U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody won the U.S. senate race for Florida on Tuesday, according to the Associated Press, defeating three-term state representative and democratic socialist Angie Nixon, who mounted a far stronger campaign than election analysts and political observers expected. Moody was defending her seat this election cycle after first being appointed to the role by Gov. Ron DeSantis. 

Although her success continues Republicans’ long-held control over state and national seats, Moody was on track Tuesday evening for a relatively slim victory.

“We were nervous at first. We always are, right? We’re humble, we stay calm, but the more we talk to everybody in the community and everybody’s pumped up, I think that we’re more excited than anything to see what the next two years are going to bring, and we think everybody else is excited,” said Tricia Moody, Ashley’s sister, at her election-night watch party in Tampa.

Moody received major support from Republicans including from President Donald Trump. She ran a comparatively quiet campaign tour across the state, taking questions and interviews from Republican-friendly media outlets. 

Moody gambled on Florida’s long history of electing Republicans statewide and attack ads about Nixon’s political ties to the Democratic Socialists of America to secure the narrow win for the U.S. senate seat. 

In Jacksonville where Nixon held an election night gathering, the room was somber. In her concession Nixon said she was proud of her campaign, but she is not done fighting for Floridians.

Florida Trib reporter Molly Farrar contributed to this report.