When progressive Florida state Rep. Angie Nixon launched her Senate bid in January, the odds that the democratic socialist would win her party’s nomination in reliably red Florida appeared impossibly small.
In the months that followed, Nixon was significantly out-fundraised by former National Security Council aide Alexander Vindman, a key witness in President Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial and the race’s perceived Democratic front-runner. Vindman campaigned with vast resources thanks to the backing of the Democratic establishment and appeared poised to notch the nomination.
Yet in a remarkable victory Tuesday, Nixon beat Vindman by 12 percentage points, leading him in every major metropolitan area with the exception of West Palm Beach to secure Florida’s Democratic Senate nomination by sweeping margins.
Nixon, 42, is now poised to carry the torch for Democrats into November’s general election against Republican Sen. Ashley Moody, who was appointed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to fill Marco Rubio’s seat in January 2025 after Rubio became Trump’s secretary of state and won her party’s blessing in the GOP primary.
So who is the democratic socialist that will take on Moody, and how did she pull off one of the highest-profile wins the Democratic Party’s progressive wing has seen in this year’s primary cycle?
Across her three terms representing Florida’s Duval County — a swing district that includes parts of Jacksonville — in the Florida state Legislature, Nixon carved out a reputation as a vocal progressive who dons hot-pink blazers as she protests the state House’s conservative majority. Nixon spearheaded the Democratic push to block Florida Republicans’ mid-decade redraw of the state’s congressional lines to heavily favor the GOP earlier this year.
Videos of Nixon yelling in protest through a pink bullhorn during a floor vote on the new map went viral in April. She staged an hourslong sit-in at DeSantis’ office in the State Capitol to protest the gerrymandered map in May, where she was arrested and charged with trespassing and resisting an officer after she refused to leave. She is slated to face a jury trial on those charges this fall.
Nixon credited her sweeping success in Tuesday’s primary not to her virality, but to her campaign’s grassroots organizing. The former union leader ran a campaign grounded in affordability. She prioritized Medicare for All — a cornerstone of the national Democratic Socialists of America platform — free childcare and a national rent freeze and moratorium on evictions.
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Sydney Carruth is a breaking news reporter covering national politics and policy for MS NOW. You can send her tips from a non-work device on Signal at SydneyCarruth.46 or follow her work on X and Bluesky.
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