Progressives and establishment Democrats celebrate Angie Nixon’s surprise Senate primary win in Florida – live
The Guardian · L · trust 48/100
Reactions to Angie Nixon’s surprise victory in the Democratic primary for the US Senate in Florida range from shock and delight among progressives notching another win for a democratic socialist candidate, to despairing fence-mending from moderates, to curt dismissal on the right.
“Is our bullhorn on?” said Matthew Grocholske, president of the Democratic Progressive caucus of Florida. “Florida voters showcased at the ballot box on Tuesday that they want to chomp the oligarchy through people-powered wins. Our organizing over the past year has driven 158,000 direct voter contacts since January 1 through the efforts of our caucus alone. The movement we’ve built is embedded in a compassionate future where we fight for all: a future where we pass Medicare for All and the Green New Deal, Block the Bombs and abolish ICE. The only correct analysis is that our progressive agenda is a winning message.”
Nixon did not have the DSA’s endorsement, nor that of progressive political stars like the US representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or the US senator Bernie Sanders, who called Nixon’s victory a “huge upset” in a post on X.
Angie Nixon at a town hall event at Allendale Methodist Church in St. Petersburg, Florida on 5 August. Photograph: Dave Decker/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader in the Senate, issued a joint statement Tuesday morning with the Kirsten Gillibrand, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee chair.
“Angie Nixon has dedicated her career to fighting for Florida,” they said. “A lifelong native of Jacksonville and a former union organizer, Angie’s dedication to put working families first runs deep – and now, she’s running to take that fight to the Senate. Ashley Moody’s votes have cost Florida, from her siding with private insurance companies over Floridians to ripping away healthcare. In November, Florida will have a clear choice at the ballot.”
The Democratic National Committee chair, Ken Martin, also released a statement.
“As an accomplished state representative and union organizer, Angie Nixon has dedicated herself to fighting for working families,” Martin said. “Floridians have chosen a proven leader with the experience and vision to lower costs, expand access to healthcare, make childcare and housing more affordable, fight for workers, protect public education, and deliver results for families across the Sunshine state. The DNC is ready to help elect Angie and work together to flip this seat, win the Senate majority, and deliver for all Floridians.”
Nixon is a state representative for Jacksonville and a former union organizer. She beat former Trump impeachment witness Alex Vindman despite being outspent more than 16 to 1. Vindman’s campaign was criticized by Democratic operatives for its focus on television spending with comparably less regard to field organizing, a strength for both Nixon and the Democratic Socialists of America, which she joined during the campaign.
David Jolly, who won the Democratic nomination for Florida governor on Tuesday night, found himself on MS Now telling voters that he rejects socialism, even as he congratulated Nixon on her victory and called her a “fighter” for education and healthcare.
Conservatives, meanwhile, have already declared the general election a walk for the Republican nominee.
“There are two things I would not want to be if I were running a statewide race in Florida: anti-Israel and communist-curious,” wrote Noah Rothmann in National Review. “The Democratic nominee for Senate, Angie Nixon, is both … There’s more than a whiff of capital ‘S’ socialism in all this. Given the scale of the Cuban and Venezuelan diaspora in Florida – demographics with living memory of the horrors that attend life inside the socialist world – the Sunshine State’s voters are likely to sniff it out. Even if the race for Senate in Florida is now a foregone conclusion, this race will still feature prominently in the national conversation. Why? Because it demonstrates that Republicans are right when they warn that the socialist phenomenon is coming to a town near you.”
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