MIAMI — Sen. Bernie Sanders endorsed Democrat Angie Nixon for Senate after she notched an upset victory in red-state Florida to face Gov. Ron DeSantis-appointed GOP Sen. Ashley Moody in November.
“Angie’s campaign is proof that Democratic voters are looking for candidates who will fight for them and who will take on the greed of the billionaire class,” Sanders said of his support in a statement Thursday. “This is the future of the Democratic Party. They say Florida is a red state. I don’t believe that’s true. Working people all over this country — in red states, in blue states, in the North and in the South — are sick and tired of status quo politics and status quo policies. They want change, real change.”
Sanders is the latest progressive to endorse Nixon, a state lawmaker and union organizer from Jacksonville who had backing before the primary from Democratic Reps. Maxwell Frost of Florida, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts. Sanders had indicated to the Wall Street Journal he intended to endorse Nixon.
Nixon won the Democratic nomination for Senate on Tuesday by 12 points against her better-funded opponent, retired Lt. Col. Alex Vindman, a more recent Florida transplant known for his involvement in President Donald Trump’s first impeachment.
Nixon ran on a progressive platform and joined the Democratic Socialists of America in June, but has distanced herself from using specific terminology when describing her positions. Sanders, considered a leading voice in the American progressive movement, calls himself a democratic socialist but isn’t a DSA member. He has had a string of success in his endorsements, though the campaign of Graham Platner in Maine eventually unraveled.
Nixon has faced criticism from members of her own party and from Republicans for her positions on Israel and other issues where she has aligned with Democratic socialist policy ideas. Florida has 1.5 million more registered Republicans than Democrats, and a large swath of Latino voters who fled left-wing regimes in Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. But her defenders say she can energize Black voters and the base of the party, and that she knows how to organize groups and work a crowd.
Nixon faces an uphill battle against Moody, who halfway through the year reported $14 million between her campaign and political committee. Nixon reported less than $1 million, though she may have received a fundraising boost after winning the nomination — and Moody may have similarly garnered a boost.
Moody during her primary held few campaign events and avoided most media interviews or impromptu interactions with reporters on Capitol Hill, leaving voters with little insight into her positions. She has bashed Nixon in interviews on Fox News, and her campaign sent a fundraising email slamming Nixon’s views. In a post on X Thursday, Moody accused Nixon and other progressives of “trying to light this country on fire from the inside.”
Moody received nearly 1.3 million votes on primary night, while Nixon and Vindman voters together received roughly that amount. An estimated 300,000 voters supported other GOP candidates, underscoring the Republican voter advantage.
Sanders praised voters who turned out for Nixon, saying she proved “organized people can take on the organized money of the wealthy and powerful — and win.” He also noted she’d had strong support among Black voters, young voters, people without a college degree and in some rural areas. “Her decades of experience as an organizer enabled her to build a powerful grassroots campaign — a rainbow coalition of labor and community groups,” Sanders said.
Nixon said she and Sanders agreed on “Medicare for All, affordable childcare, housing people can actually afford, and an economy where every person can live with dignity.”
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