Although Florida Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Angie Nixon’s ties with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) appear limited, the Republican Party of Florida appears determined to use that association to paint her as unelectable.
Nixon is a member of the “I hate America DSA Party,” Sen. Ashley Moody told reporters in Tampa Thursday night. She went on to decry the DSA’s stance on defunding the police and defunding and abolishing prisons.
“This stuff is anti-American,” Moody said.
Nixon rejected Moody’s assertions on Friday.
“Ashley Moody needs to stick to the facts,” she told a Phoenix reporter in an interview on WMNF 88.5 FM radio in Tampa. “She’s just continuing to demonize me. What has she done for our country and our state, besides making it more unaffordable?”
Nixon made it clear she’s never called for defunding law enforcement.
“What I have called for is a people’s budget and a people’s agenda, which is what I will continue to call for, because I believe that hardworking everyday people should get to shape what our communities look like and what our economies look like.”
Nixon said earlier this week that she does not support abolishing prisons, but does support abolishing for-profit prisons.
Her reputation as one of the most liberal members of the Florida House far preceded any association with DSA, which she did join this summer. When asked if her link to the biggest socialist organization in the United States makes it harder to defeat Moody, she said it didn’t really matter.
“So, they’re going to associate me with DSA or socialists or communism anyway,” she said Friday. “They were already doing that. And so, the reason I joined the organization was because they believe we should have access to quality healthcare. They believe that we should have quality access to quality housing and fully funded public schools.”
During her six years in the Florida House, the Jacksonville representative sparked several controversies on the floor of that chamber. None were considered as incendiary as when she introduced a resolution calling for a cease-fire in the Middle East a month after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel.
She brought up the incident unsolicited Friday.
“When I called for that cease-fire, I upset some members of the Jewish community. Guess what I did when I ran for office? Every week I had a different community on a Zoom, on a line with me asking me hard-hitting questions. I did it for the Jewish community. I did it for the Muslim community. I did it for the LGBTQ community. I did it for kids. I did it for Black men. Black women. I talk to people.
“And the problem is, you have politicians that are so uptight and just want to try to stick to these same talking points and they’re just afraid to go out and be a normal person. No one wants to continue to elect people who live in this, like, ivory tower. They want regular, everyday people who understand what it’s like to struggle.”
The mother of five says she has had her struggles.
“I was a single momma for 12 years, right? I know how to make a dollar stretch, but we shouldn’t have to do that. I know what it’s like to make a decision around, ‘Oh, my God, my daughter needs her asthma pump, but I gotta make sure to have enough money to feed her and keep a roof over our head.’
“People are making decisions like that each and every day, and it is because Ashley Moody, Ron DeSantis, Donald Trump, Rick Scott, it is because they have been in power for so long and so now people want something different. They are tired of the corruption. They are tired of the lies.”
Hope Florida
Nixon also criticized Moody’s involvement in the Hope Florida scandal.
Several weeks ago, Alex Vindman, Nixon’s now vanquished Democratic Senate opponent, began calling on Moody to request the grand jury report (or “presentment”) on what happened with Hope Florida. Shortly thereafter, the Florida Democratic Party did the same thing. That grand jury investigation examined how $10 million from a state Medicaid settlement was diverted to the Hope Florida Foundation, connected to First Lady Casey DeSantis. That money was then sent to a political action committee chaired by DeSantis’ then-chief of staff, James Uthmeier.
Moody approved the transfer of the $10 million to the Hope Florida Foundation as part of a larger $67 million agreement the Florida Agency of Healthcare Administration (AHCA) signed with Centene Health Plan, one of several managed care providers the state contracts with to provide health services to the poor, elderly, and disabled. The other $57 million went to the agency.
A spokesperson for Moody’s Senate campaign issued a statement saying, “The Senator has had no role in any grand jury proceedings and would certainly have no issue with the public release of any report.”
“I cannot get over this lady allowed $10 million that was supposed to go towards the most medically needy kids to be diverted,” Nixon said. “I am someone who had a child that was on KidCare. Like, I would not have been able to ensure that my child had the medicine that she needed.”
Who’s the ‘big-tent party’?
While Nixon will use that issue and others against Moody, Republicans seem united in using socialism as a scarlet letter against her.
“I think it divides Democrats,” GOP gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds said about the DSA while speaking with reporters in Tampa Thursday night.
“They don’t even know what party they are on Capitol Hill. I think it puts more pressure on them here in Florida. Are they going to continue down the line of socialism? Is that where Democratic voters want to go? And I’ll tell you, I don’t think that’s all Democratic voters. I think you have a lot of conservative-leaning Democratic voters. Longstanding registered voters, who are JFK Democrats or Bill Clinton Democrats. And they do not recognize this party. And so, we are a common sense party. We’re a big-tent party.”
“I know people are trying to box me in, but, like, we are a big-tent party as far as the Democratic Party,” Nixon said. “And all of the Republicans who are fighting for higher office, Byron Donalds, Ashley Moody, they don’t have a leg to stand on because they are the reason that we are in the mess right now. People are working harder than ever and they’re just struggling just to stay afloat.”
