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Florida Rep. Angie Nixon and retired Army Lt. Col. Alex Vindman are running in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate.<\/p>\n
Provided<\/p>\n
Last week, U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost of Orlando, one of Florida\u2019s most prominent progressives, announced his endorsement for U.S. Senate: state Rep. Angie Nixon, a Black progressive on the front lines of the resistance against Gov. Ron DeSantis.<\/p>\n
It was a snub of retired Lt. Col. Alex Vindman, a Democrat with a formidable war chest. Frost has also gotten behind former GOP Rep. David Jolly, the presumptive Democratic nominee for governor.<\/p>\n
Nixon\u2019s surge in support has spectators wondering: Could she win the primary?<\/p>\n
Vindman cut a national profile as the star witness during President Donald Trump\u2019s first impeachment trial, risking his job to accuse the president of pressuring a foreign government for political gain. He solidified front-runner status early, raising more than $16 million since announcing his candidacy in January. Nixon has lagged, raising more than $600,000, but donations have ticked up in recent months.<\/p>\n
Nixon\u2019s late-in-the-game momentum has reignited an old argument in the Florida Democratic Party. Should the party get behind a big fundraiser who appeals to moderates like Vindman, or does their best chance to defeat U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody lie with a spirited progressive?<\/p>\n
It echoes the question before gubernatorial primary voters in 2018, when Democrats had to decide: back former Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, a Black progressive, or former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham, a more moderate candidate with a significant fundraising advantage. DeSantis ultimately prevailed over Gillum by a fraction of a percentage point.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it is very easy for us to forget, as involved Democrats, just how much cultural trust plays into a role in elections,\u201d said Jackson McMillan, a strategist and CEO of Key Lime Strategies, which helps Democrats with small-dollar fundraising and advertising. \u201cI am not 100% confident on an Angie Nixon win. But what I am confident on is that the representative is going to surprise everybody on election night with how much of a vote share she gets.\u201d<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s why support is mounting for Nixon with less than three weeks to go before the Aug. 18 primary.<\/p>\n
Nixon picking up other backers<\/p>\n
Frost isn\u2019t the only local leader touting his support for Nixon. She\u2019s earned endorsements from prominent state representatives such as Anna Eskamani, who is running for Orlando mayor, and Michele Rayner, who represents Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.<\/p>\n
\u201cAngie is someone who is willing to fight even when she\u2019s the only one standing up,\u201d Eskamani said as she announced her endorsement last week.<\/p>\n
The endorsements demonstrate the credibility Nixon has cultivated with fellow Democrats in Florida, even as donors flock toward Vindman. Frost\u2019s and Eskamani\u2019s support could prove pivotal for Orlando voters, McMillan said.<\/p>\n
Nixon announced her run for U.S. Senate just five days<\/a> before Vindman.<\/p>\n A Black woman born and raised in Jacksonville, Nixon has spent almost six years in the state House opposing DeSantis\u2019 agenda. She staged a May sit-in at DeSantis\u2019 office protesting the GOP\u2019s mid-decade redistricting process. As a result, law enforcement charged her with two misdemeanors that she\u2019s fighting in court. Nixon also took to the House floor with a pink bullhorn<\/a>, accusing lawmakers of violating Florida\u2019s constitution as they cast votes for the new congressional map, which ultimately became law.<\/p>\n She\u2019s repeatedly called for a debate against Vindman. The retired lieutenant colonel has waffled on whether he\u2019ll accept that challenge.<\/p>\n \u201cFloridians don\u2019t want the establishment in Washington, D.C., deciding who their Democratic nominee and U.S. senator is going to be,\u201d Nixon said in an interview with the Tampa Bay Times. \u201cI\u2019m someone who\u2019s willing to debate. He\u2019s not. I\u2019m someone who doesn\u2019t have to be briefed on the issues Floridians are facing because I\u2019ve been fighting the attacks alongside them for nearly two decades.\u201d<\/p>\n There are other factors driving Nixon\u2019s momentum. A July University of North Florida<\/a> poll shows Nixon performing better against Moody than Vindman. (Moody still leads both Democrats in the poll by eight and 10 points, respectively).<\/p>\n Political onlookers say Nixon\u2019s performance could mean that progressive nominees actually fare better against Republicans than more centrist Democrats.<\/p>\n Then there\u2019s the social media backlash against Vindman. Content creators at Florida Democrats\u2019 annual Leadership Blue gala recorded him walking briskly away as they called out questions.<\/p>\n The Florida Democratic Party said at the time that Vindman did not RSVP to speak to the content creators. Vindman\u2019s spokesperson told the Miami Herald<\/a> that the campaign team is extra vigilant after figures on the right have followed and filmed him.<\/p>\n But the videos fired up Black activists who support Nixon. They\u2019ve criticized Vindman\u2019s establishment financial support as tone-deaf<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cBlack voters are not confused,\u201d wrote Gainesville-based activist Chanae Jackson on Facebook<\/a>. \u201cBlack voters are looking at a party that keeps asking for their loyalty while handing them crumbs, tokenism, and candidates they had no voice in choosing, and they are responding accordingly.\u201d<\/p>\n Vindman cuts national profile<\/p>\n Vindman made waves when he announced his candidacy for U.S. Senate early this year.<\/p>\n He\u2019s a military veteran who gained national attention when he acted as a whistleblower during Trump\u2019s first impeachment trial in 2019. The following year, he retired from the Army, citing \u201cbullying\u201d and \u201cintimidation\u201d<\/a> by the president. He\u2019s appeared frequently as a national security analyst and Ukraine expert on programs such as \u201cThe Rachel Maddow Show\u201d in the years since.<\/p>\n With his national profile comes an ability to fundraise. In the last two quarters, Vindman outraised Moody, who was appointed to the Senate seat vacated by Secretary of State Marco Rubio in early 2025.<\/p>\n Vindman\u2019s campaign has pointed to signs of grassroots backing: More than 114,000 donors contributed an average donation of $35, he told supporters in July.<\/p>\n Vindman has pledged not to accept dollars from corporate political action committees. He\u2019s embraced positions popular with Democratic voters, such as opposing stock trading by members of Congress.<\/p>\n But he faces a sticking point on the issue of Israel. Vindman told reporters in July that \u201cthis war has gone on too long,\u201d while calling Israel \u201ca generational partner of the U.S.\u201d<\/p>\n How does support of Israel play?<\/p>\n How the candidates describe Israel\u2019s actions in Palestine sharply diverge, at a moment when party voters\u2019 support is waning.<\/p>\n Vindman has not described Israel\u2019s campaign as genocide.<\/p>\n Nixon, however, has used the word genocide repeatedly. In 2023, she floated a resolution in the Florida House<\/a> that called for \u201can immediate de-escalation and cease-fire in the State of Israel and occupied Palestine.\u201d<\/p>\n It was voted down, 104-2.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are at 10,000 dead Palestinians. How many will be enough?\u201d Nixon said at the time. That number has since climbed past 73,000<\/a>.<\/p>\n