Raw America managing editor recently Carl Gibson spoke with Angie Nixon — the Florida state representative who just won the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in a decisive victory — for a conversation about her long-shot campaign against incumbent Republican Senator Ashley Moody. They touched on the upcoming midterms and numerous other topics including:
How Nixon’s people-powered campaign overcame an 18-to-1 fundraising disadvantage to win the Democratic primary
Why she believes an unapologetically progressive message can still win in Republican-dominated Florida
Her case for Medicare for All and the fallout from expired Affordable Care Act subsidies
Her criticism of how Florida bailed out big insurance companies instead of homeowners after major hurricanes
The banned-books bookstore she opened in Jacksonville and the various services it provides for the community
Her viral bullhorn protest against Florida’s Republican gerrymander
Her closing pitch to volunteers and donors ahead of the general election
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How Nixon Won Despite Being Outspent 18-to-1 Fundraising Gap
Gibson opened by noting that Nixon had been massively outspent in her primary against establishment favorite Alexander Vindman — who, to his credit — immediately endorsed Nixon and even asked his fundraisers to donate to her campaign.
Nixon confirmed that she was outspent by a margin of $18 million to $1 million. She still won by an 11-point margin, and credited her victory to her campaign’s strategy of grassroots organizing. She added that as a union organizer and member of a union family, organizing was practically in her blood.
“It’s just good old-fashioned grassroots organizing,” Nixon said.
Why Nixon Thinks a Progressive Can Win in a Republican State
Gibson pressed Nixon on running as an unapologetic progressive in Florida, where Democrats haven’t held a statewide elected office since Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) left the Senate in 2019. Nixon responded that she isn’t framing the race in terms of left vs. right, but in terms of “top versus bottom.”
She also accused Sen. Moody of protecting her corporate donors in the health insurance industry at the expense of everyday Floridians, blaming the expired Affordable Care Act subsidies on Moody’s party and its subservience to corporate interests. She also lamented that millions of dollars in funds meant for needy children were diverted to defeat abortion rights and marijuana legalization ballot measures
“This is about right and wrong. It’s about ending corruption in Washington, D.C.,” Nixon said of her campaign.
Nixon Says Her Embrace of Medicare for All Isn’t a Liability, But a Strength
Gibson cited an Associated Press report finding that Floridians have been hit with particularly high healthcare costs following the expiration of ACA tax credits last year, and asked Nixon whether building her campaign around support Medicare for All was a political risk in a Republican-dominated state. Nixon insisted her support for universal healthcare was actually a secret weapon, citing conversations with tens of thousands of voters across all 67 counties.
“Medical debt is the leading cause of bankruptcy. People are literally going bankrupt because they’re trying to stay alive,” Nixon said.
Drawing on her own experience as a single mother of more than a decade who had to sometimes choose between buying asthma medication and other necessities, Nixon cited a Yale study finding that a universal healthcare program like Medicare for All could save the federal government more than $1 trillion annually while saving roughly 114,000 lives each year.
“The only people that are upset about the idea of us having universal health care are insurance companies, and I don’t care about insurance companies,” she said.
Holding Insurance Companies Accountable After Hurricanes
Gibson, who in 2022 worked as a flood insurance adjuster in Florida after Hurricane Ian, pointed to the recent pattern of major insurance companies denying wind claims and asked Nixon about Florida’s decision to bail out insurance companies rather than homeowners following the historic storm. Nixon didn’t dispute that assessment.
“The biggest recipients of welfare in this country are corporations and billionaires,” Nixon said.
She proposed a fully state-funded public insurance option that could lower premiums by directing savings toward a catastrophe fund instead of shareholders, using Florida’s insurer-of-last-resort, Citizens, as a starting point. She also attributed to Ashley Moody’s inaction on the issue to her deference to her donors in the insuranceindustry
“[Moody] didn’t check them for slow-walking people’s claims,” Nixon said, describing some Florida homeowners forced to sell to private equity firms after giving up on getting their insurance claims paid.
How Nixon’s Banned-Books Bookstore Is Fighting DeSantis’ ‘War on Woke’
Gibson then pivoted to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ (R) “war on woke,” and asked Nixon about her Café Resistance Bookstore and Coffee Shop. The Florida lawmaker opened the Jacksonville business in direct response to Florida’s book bans, which proliferated after DeSantis signed a series of laws aimed at silencing Florida’s Black and LGBTQ+ communities.
Nixon described the bookstore as a “third space” that not only stocks banned books, but offers free tutoring, mentorship services for Black boys led by Black men and free contraceptive care paired with conversations connecting visitors to low-cost healthcare resources. Nixon also said the store functions as a popular meeting spot for community organizing groups.
“ICE is not welcome,” she said of Café Resistance.
Nixon’s Bullhorn Protest on the Floor of the House of Representatives Against Florida’s Gerrymander
Gibson brought up one of Nixon’s most viral moments from earlier this year, when she used a bullhorn on the floor of the Florida House of Representatives in Tallahassee to protest Florida Republicans’ new congressional redistricting map. Republicans proposed the map to give themselves an additional advantage in the U.S. House of Representatives following the Supreme Court’s Louisiana v. Callais ruling that significantly weakened the Voting Rights Act.
Nixon reminded viewers it wasn’t her first such protest, pointing out that she had also staged a sit-in against a 2022 map that eliminated two Black-majority congressional districts.
“I knew they were going to try to talk over me like they did last time,” she said of her decision to bring the bullhorn.
The Florida Democrat pointed out that the new maps violated a 2010 citizen-led ballot measure explicitly banning partisan gerrymandering. She also noted that Gov. DeSantis even unveiled the maps on Fox News in color-coded form before he even notified legislators. The protest led to Nixon’s formal reprimand — the first in the Florida legislature in 20 years — and a later arrest after leading a sit-in at the governor’s office.
“What good is decorum and professionalism when democracy is literally being attacked?” she said.
How Nixon Is Counting on People Power to Flip a Red Senate Seat
Gibson closed by referencing Congressman Maxwell Frost’s (D-Fla.) comment that Florida isn’t a red state, but rather an “under-organized” one, and asked Nixon if she feels that her organizing prowess can lead to her victory in November. Nixon lauded her campaign’s army of volunteers and said that it was an essential tool to turn out votes.
“We have over 40,000, maybe 50,000 volunteers in the state of Florida, and people are ready,” Nixon said.
She then made a direct appeal for financial support to run television ads across the state, while also stressing that donations go toward grassroots organizing rather than being spent “frivolously” on consultants.
“I did not get this far to lose. I need your back,” she said, urging supporters to visit her campaign website at AngieNixon.com.
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