Florida Democratic Senate nominee Angie Nixon said that assumptions about racism in the South may be contributing to Democrats’ reluctance to invest in her campaign, arguing that the party has repeatedly underestimated the state’s political potential.
“I would say it’s that they think that the state is racist, and they’re just hesitant to like donate because of it,” Nixon said in a Politico interview, discussing why some Democratic donors have been slow to support her bid.
Nixon was careful not to accuse Democratic Party leaders of racial bias against her personally. Instead, she suggested that some donors may doubt a black woman can win statewide in Florida, particularly after former Vice President Kamala Harris lost the state to President Donald Trump in 2024. Trump won Florida with roughly 56% of the vote to Harris’s 46%, a margin of about 13 percentage points.
Nixon, a state representative from Jacksonville, won the Democratic Senate nomination in August in an upset over former national security official Alexander Vindman, despite his strong fundraising advantage.
Nixon is a member of the Democratic Socialist of America and has described herself as someone who benefited from social safety-net programs and wants to strengthen them for working people, retirees, and people with disabilities.
Now facing Republican Sen. Ashley Moody (R-FL) in the Nov. 3 general election, Nixon has sought to broaden her appeal beyond the progressive label, emphasizing economic concerns and her record organizing voters across Florida.
“I don’t care about labels,” Nixon said. “What I care about is joining people who are doing the work to help improve the quality of life of people.”
“We need to bring as many people into this ‘big tent’ as possible as we face this rise in authoritarianism,” she added.
When pressed on whether she was a capitalist or socialist, Nixon said she “live[s] in a capitalistic society” and “want[s] to make sure that people have strong social programs and safety net programs.”
Her comments come as she presses national Democrats to devote more resources to Florida, which she described as an “underinvested” state rather than an unwinnable one. She pointed to the state’s minimum-wage increase to $15 an hour and automatic rights restoration for certain formerly incarcerated people as examples of progressive policy victories.
Nixon said the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has begun connecting her campaign with donors and hosting fundraisers, including events with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), though Nixon stopped short of endorsing Schumer for majority leader if she were to win and the Democrats were to flip the Senate.
Still, she argued that Democrats’ reluctance to invest in Florida has allowed Republican policies to spread beyond the state, citing restrictions on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and limits on people’s proximity to police officers making arrests.
Nixon also pushed back against suggestions that Florida would not elect a black woman or a progressive candidate, pointing to former President Barack Obama’s victories in the state in 2008 and 2012.
2026 MIDTERM ELECTIONS LIVE UPDATES: LATEST NEWS, RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
“I’m going to continue to push back against those narratives that I can’t win, that they won’t elect a Black woman,” she said.
The race remains an uphill contest for Democrats. Recent polling has shown Moody ahead, and the Cook Political Report rates the Florida Senate race “Solid Republican.”