By Logan Johnson
JACKSONVILLE – As the nation reels in disgust at the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti – two people executed in broad daylight by federal agents – a different storm is brewing in northeast Florida: a storm with ambitions for Congress.
Jacksonville native, community organizer and member of the Florida House of Representatives Angie Nixon announced her candidacy for U.S. Senate over social media on Jan. 22 – and then again in person during a block party on Jan. 25.
On that cloudy afternoon, rows of chairs viewing a trailer stage sprawled the parking lot of Café Resistance, which serves as community center, political organizing space, bookstore and coffee shop for the people of Jacksonville. Behind the adults stood a lively bounce house of screaming children, and next to them was a growing display of innocent chalk drawings spanning the concrete. Inside the quaint little business awaited Café Resistance’s owner: U.S. Senate Candidate Angie Nixon.
With ICE’s killing of Renee Good just weeks before Nixon’s rally and the Border Patrol’s killing of Alex Pretti only a day prior, the federal government’s nationwide immigration crackdown was in the hearts and minds of Nixon, her volunteers and the rally’s attendees.
“We see what’s happening in Minneapolis right now,” Nixon addressed the crowd. “We see how they are weaponizing ICE and weaponizing police officers and law enforcement to come out and to harm and brutalize our communities. This ain’t new y’all. This happened in the Jim Crow era. They’re trying to return us back to the worst chapters of our history.”
Waking the State
Rally Attendees crowded in the parking lot of Café Resistance during Nixon’s campaign rally and block party. Photo by Logan Johnson.
Since early September (well before officially announcing her candidacy) Nixon has been on the road traveling across Florida’s 67 counties listening to Floridians voice their concerns – absorbing the struggles of Florida residents into her campaign.
“I’m running for United States Senate because change can’t wait… because I believe that we all deserve the opportunity to be healthy, to be prosperous, to be safe,” said Nixon at her campaign rally.
Referring to the failed initiative to infuse the department of Homeland Security with an additional $75 million in the U.S. Senate, Nixon lambasted the proposal, arguing the money ought to be spent on providing quality healthcare, accessible childcare and ensuring affordable property insurance.
“That is our money. This is our state. This is our country. And it looks like all of you out here. It does not look like Donald J. Trump,” said Nixon before a cheering crowd.
Community Support
Flagler Alumna Ash Chatmon speaking beside Rep. Nixon. Photo by Logan Johnson.
Near the tail end of Nixon’s speech, she welcomed Flagler College alum and community organizer Ash Chatmon to the stage with a personal story to tell.
Chatmon began her story by referencing the 2023 shooting of three black people in Jacksonville by a racist gunman. “[When this happened,] I felt in my heart that I wanted to leave Florida as fast as possible. I can’t be here no more,” Chatmon told the crowd.
However, after attending a rally in response to the tragedy, Chatmon heard Nixon speak “of a world where we live prosperously. Where we have joy.”
“I knew in my heart there was nowhere else I would rather be than in Florida to stay and to fight. And if it was not for Angie shining a light on that I think our community would be a darker place,” Chatmon said.
The Flagler alumna and community organizer was far from the only rally attendee with a personal appreciation for Nixon.
Sara Mahmoud, a second-generation Palestinian immigrant and community activist was one of several speakers to take the stage before Nixon’s appearance.
“For far too long our communities have been left to the sidelines, faced xenophobia, Islamophobia and racism alone,” Mahmoud said.
After Hamas’ attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Nixon’s response broke radically from other Florida Democrats.
“Angie saw our struggle and reached her hand out to build unity with Arab, Muslim and Palestinian communities and for that I thank her deeply,” said Mahmoud, referring to Nixon’s 2023 resolution in the Florida house calling for a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel – which was voted down 104-2.
On the outskirts of Nixon’s block party rally was a graffiti artist at work painting a mural of the representative with her fist held high.
Viktor Alexander, former servicemember turned artist of three years, was the man behind the piece.
“I feel like Angie is a member of the community where you can see the energy she exudes in her truth – so I felt like that aligned with the things that I draw,” Alexander said when asked about his inspiration behind the mural.
Viktor Alexander painting Angie Nixon. Photo by Logan Johnson.
The Election Ahead
If Nixon has hopes of leaving Tallahassee for D.C., she’ll first have to secure her party’s nomination in the democratic primary, slated for Aug. 18, 2026. Such a task may be complicated by the entry of Alexander Vindman – the key whistleblower in 2019 that lead to Trump’s first impeachment – into the race.
If she gains the Florida Democratic Party’s blessing, Nixon will face off against Sen. Ashley Moody (R-Fla.) in the general election, who was Florida Gov. Ron Desantis’ appointee to fill former Senator Marco Rubio’s vacant seat after he was appointed Secretary of State following Trump’s return to the White House.
