TAMPA — Florida Republican U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody says the political world wouldn’t be so shocked about Jacksonville state Rep. Angie Nixon’s victory over Alex Vindman in the Democratic Senate primary had the news media been more aggressive in covering her campaign.
Nixon’s 12-point victory surprised many, in large part because the retired Army lieutenant colonel had directed his strategy exclusively towards Moody and was dismissive towards Nixon. He ignored her (and several media outlets’) requests to engage in a single debate, raised $16 million to Nixon’s less than $1 million, and yet had more than $6 million left in the bank on primary day.
In addition, no legitimate pollster chose to conduct a public opinion survey to gauge the state of the race. Unlike primary elections in Michigan and Wisconsin, the polling wasn’t dramatically wrong in Florida. There just weren’t any credible polls to compare.
Moody has been critical this summer of the ascent of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) candidates in congressional Democratic primary elections around the country. And now that she has a general election opponent associated with the DSA (since Nixon joined in June, although the national group never endorsed her), Moody says that somehow the more than 705,000 voters who chose Nixon weren’t aware of her stances.
“The whole primary campaign, I would go around the state, talk to the media,” Moody said to a group of reporters at the Republican Party of Florida’s “Top of the Ticket” rally in Tampa Thursday night.
“And they would put whatever allegation Alexander Vindman had and called him the ‘presumed nominee’ over and over and over and over again. And I would say to them, ‘I believe he has a primary. Have you talked to that other candidate? Do you know anything about that candidate?’”
She went on to say Nixon’s success wouldn’t have come as a surprise if “the media would have asked questions of the primary opponent, who was the socialist, anti-American candidate. Florida deserved to know that. And I’m going to be extraordinarily excited about putting this on display over the next two months.”
During the Republican Party of Florida’s “Sunshine Showdown Summit” in Hollywood in June, Moody referred to the rise of DSA-backed candidates like New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani as “anarchist psychos who want to destroy this country.”
Moody referred to DSA policies Thursday night such as defunding the police and abolishing the “prison industrial complex” that Nixon has already stated this week that she does not agree with.
Nixon was one of the most liberal-leaning Democrats in the Florida Legislature during her six years in Tallahassee. She made headlines earlier this year when she staged a sit-in in the governor’s office, protesting the GOP-led Legislature’s congressional redistricting map. She has also engaged in activism on the House floor, protesting the Legislature’s approvals of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ congressional redistricting maps in 2022 and again earlier this year.
Ready to pounce
However, Florida Republicans appear ready to pounce on her recent transition to the DSA movement as a way to brand her as un-electable. As has been widely reported, some mainstream Democrats have also raised objections to the socialist wing of their party, including South Florida Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz, who has said the DSA agenda and candidates are “anti-American to their core.”
MS Now’s Joe Scarborough asked Nixon Wednesday about joining the DSA during her campaign.
“I’m a union member. I recently joined the Working Families Party,” she said. “I also just recently joined DSA because there were some things — the majority of things that I’m supportive of — but, just like a Democrat there are some things that I do not fully support within the Democratic Party, particularly those corporate Democrats.”
