Alex Vindman, a key figure in Trump’s first impeachment, is entering the Senate race in Florida

Alex Vindman, who along with his twin brother became a key player in the first impeachment of President Donald Trump, announced Tuesday that he is running for the Democratic U.S. Senate in Florida.

Vindman, an Army veteran, was serving on the National Security Council in 2019 when the Republican president pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden, then the Democratic nominee. He and his brother Eugene, a lawyer at the National Security Council, reported their concerns and raised investigations.

Eugene Vindman now serves as a congressman from Virginia. If Alex Vindman secures the Democratic nomination, he will challenge Republican Sen. Ashley Moody, the former state attorney general who was appointed to fill the seat vacated by Marco Rubio when he became secretary of state.

The winner of the special election in November will finish the final two years of Rubio’s term.

Vindman called Trump a “wannabe tyrant” and described federal immigration agents as “militia thugs” in his ad video, which shows the recent killing of US citizens during a deportation drive in Minnesota.

Read more: Alexander Vindman’s full testimony in the impeachment inquiry

Vindman was forced out of the National Security Council and later retired from the military after testifying against Trump during the impeachment hearings. He said, “This president has unleashed a reign of terror and revenge, not only against me and my family, but against all of us.”

He urged voters to “stand with me now to put an end to Donald Trump and the corrupt politicians who think your tax money is their personal bank.”

Vindman becomes the most prominent Democrat in the Senate race in Florida, as the party tries to regain the majority in the Senate in the midterm elections scheduled for this fall.

Their mission in Florida will not be easy. The once swing state, which is Trump’s legal home, has turned decidedly red in recent years. No Democrat has won a Senate seat there since 2012.

Still, Democrats are hoping that Vindman’s fundraising prowess and the national political environment — including the backlash against Trump’s anti-immigration campaign and his lack of focus on the economy — give them a chance.

Trump denied any wrongdoing when he was impeached, and the Senate acquitted him. He was later impeached over the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, and was again acquitted.