Democratic socialist faces uphill battle against MAGA Republican in Florida Senate race

Sunshine State voters picked the firebrand Democrat in the hopes of breaking a seven-year drought in winning a statewide office.ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (CN) — Democratic socialist state Representative Angie Nixon of Florida won an upset victory Tuesday to try to unseat a well-funded, Trump-backed Republican incumbent in November’s Senate race.Voters chose the progressive Nixon over retired Army Lt. Col. Alex Vindman in the state’s Democratic primary.She will face Senator Ashley Moody, appointed by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis last year to fill the seat vacated by Marco Rubio, a three-term senator, after he became secretary of state.While Moody was expected to win, Nixon’s victory with 56% of over 1.25 million votes came as a surprise. Vindman, who leapt onto the national stage during Trump’s impeachment in 2019, had national recognition and raised $16.2 million to her less than $1 million.Nixon, a union organizer who represents the large swath of Jacksonville and surrounding Duval County, was a vocal opponent of the recent congressional redistricting of Florida, leading a sit-in at the governor’s office, where she was arrested. She also protested on the state House floor with a megaphone.Vindman, who served on the National Security Council as an expert on Ukraine during Trump’s first term, testified in Trump’s impeachment hearing that he heard the president pressuring the Ukrainian head of state to investigate then-presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter.“Florida, we showed the world what organized people can accomplish,” Nixon told supporters Tuesday night. “We showed the world what the people of Florida are all about: Medicare for all, universal child care, real affordable housing, fully funded public education and an end to senseless wars.”In a statement, Vindman said Nixon “ran a strong campaign.”“I will be standing by her side in the fight against Ashley Moody,” he said.Moody — a former federal prosecutor, county judge, and two-term Florida attorney general — coasted through the Republican primary against three challengers with nearly 80% of over 1.65 million Republican votes cast.“I stood up for Florida in the face of big government overreach, held Washington accountable, and have always fought for our rights as Americans,” Moody said during her election party Tuesday night. “My opponent belongs to the Democratic Socialists of America, which wants to defund the police, defund the military, open up the border, let noncitizens vote, and on and on. There won’t be a clearer choice in any election this November.”The election is a longshot for Democrats, who have not won a Senate seat in the state in 14 years, and no statewide office since Nikki Fried, now the Florida Democratic Party chair, became the commissioner of agriculture in 2019.The voter registration numbers between Republicans and Democrats illustrate this point: Florida has 1.5 million more registered Republican voters.Moody also enters the final stretch of the Senate fight with $8.48 million cash in hand compared to Nixon’s roughly $265,000.“In the state of Florida, that is not very much,” said Aubrey Jewett, assistant director of University of Central Florida’s school of politics, security and international affairs.The support of the national Democratic Party and Nixon’s ability to fundraise will be crucial, he said. For a red state like Florida, donors may not want to waste money on a longshot candidate who belongs to the Democratic Socialists of America.“Once again, the Democratic Party in Florida has made their job a little harder to win the general election,” Jewett said. “It remains to be seen. It can be a self-fulfilling prophecy.”In a statement, Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin congratulated Nixon on her victory.“The DNC is ready to help elect Angie and work together to flip this seat, win the Senate majority and deliver for all Floridians,” Martin said in a statement.In a social media post, President Donald Trump used a familiar tack to insult Nixon.“Sleazebag Vindman loses tonight to a Radical Left Lunatic,” Trump wrote Tuesday night. “How cool is that???”Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads