Angie Nixon’s recent victory in the Dem primaries for the state senatorial seat is undoubtedly an important fact. However, she has already started to distance herself from socialists linked to Mamdani
La Rubrica - Outside the Beltway: cronache e analisi di politica Usa
Angie Nixon’s victory in the Democratic primaries for the Florida senatorial seat caused quite a stir. Nixon is in fact an exponent of the Democratic Socialists of America and the so-called Sunshine Statehas become increasingly conservative in recent years. The fact that the interested party managed to win last week’s primaries therefore represents a very politically significant event, so much so that various analysts consider it an example of how the left wing of the Democratic Party is now increasingly gaining ground. Now, Nixon’s victory undoubtedly constitutes a significant episode. Should we therefore assume that, in Florida, the political winds are changing in favor of ultra-progressivism? It cannot be ruled out, of course. But you have to be careful. The situation is in fact slightly more complex than how some are describing it.
First of all, it is interesting to start from a fact. Nixon won the Democratic primary for her state’s senatorial seat with just over 705,000 votes. In 2022, the then Democratic candidate, Val Demings, won the Asinello primaries for the Senate with over 1,263,000 votes, only to end up beaten, in November of that year, by the Republican Marco Rubio, who was the outgoing senator at the time. Secondly, an element reported by should be underlined Axiosaccording to which “soon after her surprising victory in the Democratic primary for Senate in Florida, state Rep. Angie Nixon made it clear that she was not really a socialist, despite having just signed up for the Democratic Socialists of America“. In particular, when she was asked if she was a socialist, Nixon replied: “No”. Not only that. In addition to underlining that she does not support cutting police funding, the winner also distanced herself from Democratic Socialists of America who, in mid-August, had published a celebratory statement in favor of the figure of Fidel Castro.
In short, it seems that, immediately after her victory in the primaries, Nixon is trying to mark a certain distance from the socialists of Zohran Mamdani’s circuit. Which is understandable given that, as we said, Florida is a state that, in the last ten years, has moved increasingly to the right. Donald Trump won it electorally in 2016, 2020 and 2024. The two senators he currently represents are both Republicans. Furthermore, it has not had a Democratic governor since 1999. All this, without neglecting the so-called Sunshine State it is full of anti-Castro and anti-Chavista voters. This is a factor that has often pushed the local Democratic Party towards moderately conservative positions. Not surprisingly, Axios recently reported a clash, behind the scenes, between Nixon and the president of the state section of Asinello, Nikki Fried: the latter feared that Nixon’s ties with the Democratic Socialists of America could jeopardize the dem strategy to try to win the Florida senatorial seat. In short, socialism, at least for now, remains more of an obstacle than an opportunity for Asinello in Sunshine State.
