TALLAHASSEE, Fla. \u2014 Sen. Bernie Sanders brought his \u201cFighting Oligarchy\u201d tour to Florida\u2019s capital Sunday night, throwing his national progressive movement behind Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Angie Nixon as she tries to pull off another political upset \u2014 this time against Republican Sen. Ashley Moody.<\/p>\n
But as Nixon and Sanders railed against money and corruption in American politics before an energized Tallahassee crowd, Nixon was also confronting questions about her own campaign\u2019s financial reporting.<\/p>\n
Speaking with reporters after the rally, Nixon acknowledged that her campaign has made mistakes in handling some contributions after the Federal Election Commission raised questions about several of its filings. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you have over 300,000 campaign donations, of course you sometimes have some errors, some accidents,\u201d Nixon said. \u201cThere\u2019s absolutely nothing nefarious or anything, and so we are going to look at that, and we\u2019re going to correct it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pressed on whether she was describing mistakes by her campaign, Nixon said, \u201cMistakes get made sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n
She offered an example: \u201cSometimes people make a donation $25 over, you just refund them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The acknowledgment came with just 16 days remaining before the Nov. 3 election, as Nixon attempts to become the first Democrat to win a U.S. Senate election in Florida since Bill Nelson won re-election in 2012.<\/p>\n
Recent polls have shown Moody ahead, although the size of her advantage has varied considerably. An Oct. 5-7 St. Pete Polls survey<\/a> of likely voters found Moody leading Nixon 47 percent to 45 percent, while an MDW Communications survey<\/a> conducted Oct. 4-10 put Moody ahead 48 percent to 42 percent.<\/p>\n Nixon, however, has already defied expectations once this year.<\/p>\n The Jacksonville state representative stunned the Democratic establishment in August by defeating retired Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman in the party\u2019s Senate primary despite being dramatically outspent. Her campaign relied heavily on grassroots organizing and support from labor, Black voters and progressive activists. <\/p>\n Sunday night, two of the most recognizable figures in the progressive wing of American politics came to Tallahassee to argue that the same model could work statewide.<\/p>\n \u201cThis election is not only important for the people of Florida,\u201d Sen. Bernie Sanders told the crowd. \u201cAfter Angie wins, this is going to be a spark that is going to ignite the entire country.\u201d<\/p>\n Sanders, a Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats and twice sought the Democratic presidential nomination, has spent years making economic inequality, universal health care and the influence of wealthy donors central to his political movement. Nixon has deep ties to that movement: She worked on Sanders\u2019 2016 presidential campaign as a deputy field director focused on Black outreach.<\/p>\n At Sunday\u2019s rally, Sanders portrayed Nixon\u2019s campaign as part of a broader fight over economic and political power, arguing that wealthy donors and corporations exercise too much influence over elections and government.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to end this corrupt campaign finance system,\u201d Sanders said, calling for an end to super PACs and for public financing of elections.<\/p>\n That message also framed Nixon\u2019s speech.<\/p>\n A mother of five, former union organizer and small-business owner who has served in the Florida House since 2020, Nixon cast herself as a working-class alternative to Moody and repeatedly returned to the cost of housing, groceries, insurance and health care.<\/p>\n \u201cI know what it means to work hard and still struggle to have to pay your bills,\u201d Nixon told the crowd. \u201cI know what it means to look at your child and wonder how you\u2019re going to give them every single thing that they deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n Nixon reiterated her support for Medicare for All, stronger unions and higher wages, while rejecting Republican efforts to portray those positions as radical. She has joined the Democratic Socialists of America, an affiliation Republicans have made a central part of their attacks against her.<\/p>\n Nixon has resisted defining herself by the socialist label, instead arguing that her positions reflect the economic concerns of working-class Floridians. The distinction could prove particularly important in Florida, where Republicans have for years used socialism as an attack against Democrats, particularly in heavily Hispanic South Florida.<\/p>\n Moody, meanwhile, entered the Senate through a much different path.<\/p>\n Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed her to the seat in January 2025 after Marco Rubio resigned to become President Donald Trump\u2019s secretary of state. Before joining the Senate, Moody served six years as Florida\u2019s attorney general and previously worked as a federal prosecutor and Hillsborough County circuit judge.<\/p>\n The November special election will determine who serves the remainder of Rubio\u2019s term, which runs through 2028.<\/p>\n Republicans have won every U.S. Senate election in Florida since Nelson\u2019s 2012 victory, and the state has moved sharply toward the Republican Party in recent election cycles. Nixon must now assemble a statewide version of the coalition that propelled her through the Democratic primary.<\/p>\n Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Orlando, who became the first member of Generation Z elected to Congress in 2022, argued Sunday that Democrats have misunderstood Florida\u2019s political trajectory.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not a red state. We\u2019re an under-resourced state,\u201d Frost said. \u201cWe\u2019re not a red state. We\u2019re an under-organized state.\u201d<\/p>\n Frost\u2019s presence reinforced the organizing theme running through the evening. Before his election to Congress, he was the national organizing director for March for Our Lives, the gun-violence prevention organization that grew out of the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.<\/p>\n Nixon, Sanders and Frost repeatedly urged supporters Sunday to turn the enthusiasm inside the venue into door knocking, phone banking and votes.<\/p>\n But Nixon\u2019s campaign must simultaneously answer questions about its financial reports.<\/p>\n The FEC has sent Nixon\u2019s principal campaign committee, Angie for Florida, requests for additional information concerning its filings. The questions include apparent contribution-limit or designation problems and discrepancies in reported receipts.<\/p>\n An FEC request for additional information is not a finding that a campaign violated federal law. Such notices give committees an opportunity to clarify information or amend their reports.<\/a><\/p>\n