Editors at National Review Online assess Florida Democrats’ latest peculiar electoral choice.
In 2018, Florida’s Senate election was decided by just 10,000 votes — a close-enough margin to trigger a mandatory recount. In 2022, Florida’s Senate election was decided by 1,273,325 votes. In 2024, Florida’s Senate election was decided by 1,374,629 votes. As of August 2026, the Republican Party’s registration advantage in Florida was 1,529,028 — a number that increased by more than 14,000 in July alone.
The Florida Democratic Party just nominated a socialist, Angie Nixon, as its Senate candidate.
It is true that Nixon’s victory in the primary was partially attributable to the weakness of her primary opponent, Alexander Vindman, a preening, vacuous, entitled out-of-stater who seems to have assumed that his role in spurring the first impeachment of Donald Trump would inspire gratitude in Florida’s Democrats. It didn’t. Despite outspending Nixon 16-fold, Vindman lost 44–56. But whether or not her selection reflects a genuine leftward shift among Democrats, it remains the case that, once again, they have picked a radical to represent them. “But I didn’t want Vindman” may be a reasonable analytical explanation among primary voters, but it won’t help one whit come November. Florida is not only a Republican state; it is a conservative state. Angie Nixon is a poor fit.
Apologists for Nixon insist that it doesn’t especially matter which figure the Democratic Party chose to represent it, given that their candidate will be described as a “socialist” anyway. This is wishful thinking. It is, of course, true that all manner of hyperbole is thrown around during elections. But it is far more difficult to defend against charges of extremism when those charges are true. Nixon is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and has been endorsed by Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, and Ayanna Pressley. She is in favor of abolishing private health insurance, of a federal childcare program, of a federal rent freeze, of a universal jobs program, of abolishing ICE, and of a variation on the Green New Deal. And, of course, she is a radical on Israel.
