DSA Candidate Angie Nixon Defeats Establishment Candidate in FL Senate Primary

Democratic Socialist and Jacksonville Rep. Angie Nixon won Florida's Democratic Senate Primary against retired Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman on Tuesday.

The Details: Vindman reportedly acquired over $16 million in campaign funding, compared to Nixon's $975,000. While Vindman spent roughly $2.2 million on advertising, Nixon spent about $60,000. Nixon, who Reason (Center bias) said "was really not favored to win at all," asserted during her campaign, "Floridians don't want the establishment in Washington DC deciding who their Democratic nominee and US senator is going to be." Though Vindman refused to debate her during the primary race, he endorsed her impending campaign in his concession speech. Nixon beat Vindman with about 56% of votes and is now set to face incumbent Sen. Ashley Moody (R) in November's general election.

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How The Media Covered It: Outlets on the right more prominently emphasized Nixon's affiliation with the DSA, often framing it negatively. Reason joined in calling her "an underfunded, ultraprogressive, card-carrying [DSA member]." The Wall Street Journal (Center), on the other hand, used the softer term "progressive" when describing her in its headline. Reason criticized Nixon's win as "a reminder that we're being swept up in a wave of populist, socialist candidates who appeal to people without an understanding of basic economic concepts." It called it "insane that the platform was seemingly attractive enough to springboard a total underdog candidate to primary success" but noted, "It's also possible that Vindman just wasn't an attractive candidate to the state's Democrats." New York Post (Right) agreed that because of Vindman's shambolic battles and impeachment attempt against President Donald Trump, "many Florida Democrats seemed to believe that Vindman's time had passed."

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Nixon's Platform: Nixon officially joined the DSA, which gained success in Philadelphia, Colorado, Michigan and New York City primary races so far, prior to launching her campaign. Her campaign priorities include publicly-funded Medicare, childcare, employment leave, and college; a $25 federal minimum wage; student loan forgiveness; abolishment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE); a billionaire tax; cancellation of federal funding to Israel; and a rent freeze.

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