Can a progressive Democrat win a statewide election in Republican-dominated Florida? Two state legislators, both Black women, are aiming to find out.
State Rep. Angie Nixon of Jacksonville has emerged as the leading contender in the Aug. 18 Democratic primary for U.S. Senate against retired Lt. Col. Alex Vindman, who played a central role in President Donald Trump’s first impeachment.
And in the governor’s race, state Rep. Dotie Joseph of north Miami-Dade County is challenging former congressman David Jolly for that Democratic nomination.
Both Nixon and Joseph say voters are ready for someone new who cares about issues such as universal health care, protecting civil rights and democracy, and the affordability of basics like rent and housing, groceries and child care.
“The policies I advocate for are for sure progressive policies,” Joseph said in an interview. “But what they do is improve people’s lives. Whatever box that puts me in, that’s the box I’m in.”
Likewise, Nixon said voters she meets “don’t want the status quo.”
“I just look at what progressives stand for. They want to make sure the government is working for them and not against them,” she added.
The two Democratic women’s campaigns in Florida come as progressives have seen their fortunes rise around the country, including the election of New York Mayor Zoran Mamdani and the victory by Abdul El-Sayed.in Michigan’s Democratic U.S. Senate primary.
Republicans say this progressive movement is radical and extreme, with some echoing President Donald Trump’s claim that these progressives espouse a form of communism.
“Democrats are campaigning as moderates, but make no mistake their party is now owned by communists,” said Florida GOP Chair Evan Power in a social media post. “They are now the party of Mamdani and the Democrat Socialists of America. This fall remember there is no such thing as a moderate Democrat.”
Recent public polling shows Nixon has made some inroads. The University of North Florida’s Public Opinion Research Lab reported in July that Republican U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody leads Nixon 50% to 42% in a potential November matchup, while Moody is up on Vindman 50% to 40%. The poll of 848 likely general election voters has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.
“Despite very different ideological approaches, the two Democratic Senate candidates do about as well as one another, suggesting the party’s internal debate over whether to move left or stay centrist may not much affect the behavior of voters, or at least that they aren’t paying attention yet,” said Sean Feeder, faculty director of PORL.
In an email, Vindman said he is more of an outsider candidate than Nixon or Moody.
“If voters want a fresh voice who is ready to disrupt the status quo on Day One, I’m your guy. I am not a career politician, and I am the only candidate in this race who has never run for office before and has never taken a dime in corporate PAC money,” Vindman said.
There hasn’t been much recent public polling of the Democratic race for governor. Jolly had solid leads over Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings before Demings dropped out June 5, citing treatment for prostate cancer.
That’s when Joseph jumped into the race, definitely a late start. But Joseph said she wanted to give Democrats a progressive alternative to Jolly with Demings out of the campaign.
“I delved into why are people are so dissatisfied with our options,” Joseph said. “I decided to give them another option as well.”
A native of Haiti, Joseph has served in the Florida House since 2018. Nixon, born in Jacksonville, was first elected to the House in 2020. Both have been stalwart opponents of the conservative agenda advanced by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is leaving office due to term limits.
Nixon made headlines in May when she used a pink megaphone on the House floor in a loud protest against redistricting maps drawn by DeSantis aimed at handing the GOP four additional U.S. House seats. That drew her a reprimand from the Republican-led House. Nixon also staged a sit-in demonstration in 2022 to protest previous redrawn congressional districts.
“I continually show up for groups that have been continually under attack,” Nixon said.
On the money front, Vindman has raised more than $19 million and has $10 million in cash on hand, according to his campaign. Nixon, meanwhile, has raised a little over $625,000, state records show.
In the Democratic governor’s race, Jolly has raised about $4 million in campaign and committee funds, compared with about $10,000 for Joseph, including $3,000 in loans.
Whoever prevails in the primaries for U.S. Senate will face the well-financed Moody, who was appointed to the seat by DeSantis to replace Marco Rubio, now Trump’s secretary of state. In the governor’s race, the Republican frontrunner is U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds with a huge campaign war chest.
The money disparity does not deter Joseph or Nixon.
“It’s not money that dictates who’s going to win. It’s the voters who do,” Joseph said. “We’re going to do what we can with what we have.”
Curt Anderson is the Policy and Politics Reporter for The USA TODAY NETWORK-FLORIDA. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday day by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY athttps://tallahassee.com/newsletters.
Can a Democratic progressive win Florida Senate, governor races? – Tallahassee Democrat
