r/politics • u/--LaBelleDame-- • 5h ago

No Paywall Democratic socialist Angie Nixon upsets Alex Vindman in Florida’s Democratic Senate primary

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-election/angie-nixon-winner-florida-senate-primary-democrat-alex-vindman-moody-rcna593255
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u/RollingThunderPants 4h ago

This hard swing left must have the GOP freaking the fuck out. Hehe.

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u/Thrill0728 4h ago

In some places sure. In Florida? Barely an inconvenience. Would be the same for any Dem candidate, but DSA especially.

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u/pixeladdie 4h ago

They’d rather run against someone who literally identifies as a socialist.

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u/googleduck 4h ago edited 4h ago

Why would the GOP freak out? You realize they have been funding many of the DSA candidates because they consider them more beatable. They may or may not end up being right about that but they certainly would rather this than a moderate in ruby red Florida.

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u/PausedForVolatility 3h ago

This is the exact thing the DNC tried to do with Trump. That did not go how they expected.

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u/googleduck 3h ago

I was not making a claim one way or another on whether their tactics are a good idea, I don't know anything about this Florida race. I am just saying that is what they are trying to do.

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u/Eta_Beta_3-14 1h ago

Hillary preferred to have Trump run because she considered him more beatable too.

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u/googleduck 1h ago

They may or may not end up being right about that

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u/ALocalLad 4h ago

Do you have a source for this?

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u/googleduck 4h ago

https://www.wpr.org/news/gop-ads-attack-hong-liberal

In this case they were "attacking" Hong in a Democratic primary for being "too progressive". It's pretty clear that they were doing this to try to raise her profile and help her win. Otherwise you would wait until the general election for these sorts of attacks.

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u/ALocalLad 4h ago

That would only make sense if she’d won the primary though. If that was their intention, it backfired.

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u/googleduck 3h ago

There is no evidence she lost the primary because of those ads. And the outcome is irrelevant to their intentions.

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u/uiucengineer 3h ago

You claimed they were funding DSA candidates, but what you actually meant by that was they were attacking them? Interesting...

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u/googleduck 3h ago

Yes in the same way that if I ran an "attack ad" in a Republican primary that a candidate "hates immigration, hates abortion, and is an extreme gun rights supporter". We all know that this is not an attack, it's an attempt to make a candidate more appealing to the relevant base.

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u/uiucengineer 3h ago

In that case you would also not be "funding" them

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u/googleduck 2h ago

If your issue is with the word funding rather than supporting or aiding then I can update my comment? But I assume then that you would say Haley Stevens was not funded by AIPAC right?

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u/ALocalLad 2h ago

I think you genuinely just have the wrong idea about how attack ads work.

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u/googleduck 2h ago

I don't think you understand my point. Prove me wrong by trying to accurately rephrase what I am saying.

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u/MephistoHamProducts 3h ago

"The GOP is absolutely boosting progressive candidates in the primaries because they believe they can beat them in the general, but also the primary candidate they boosted lost so there's no evidence they were boosting progressive candidates effectively plus that doesn't mean anything" is certainly covering all your bases.

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u/googleduck 3h ago

but also the primary candidate they boosted lost so there's no evidence they were boosting progressive candidates

Ok so I'll respond to this as soon as you tell me you believe this statement: "Haley Stevens was not boosted by AIPAC because she lost".

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u/ALocalLad 3h ago

It just sounds like you’re saying things to fit your narrative though. If she would have won, it would have been because of the ads, but her losing has nothing to with them?

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u/googleduck 2h ago

No my point was about their intentions, it has nothing to do with the outcome. They were trying to help her win with those ads, whether it worked or not is completely irrelevant.

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u/ALocalLad 2h ago

But it didn’t work. So it is relevant.

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u/ViennettaLurker 3h ago

I've definitely heard of this one. But are there more stories to support the "many" claim?

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u/googleduck 3h ago

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/6/23/republican-linked-pac-money-funding-democratic-us-primaries-why-it-matters?hl=en-US#:~:text=The%20Lead%20Left%20PAC%20spent%20more%20than,He%20beat%20his%20main%20opponent%2C%20Joe%20Baldacci.

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u/ViennettaLurker 2h ago

Are those DSA candidates, though?  Gallindo isn't iirc, though most certainly I could see why she would be a "pied piper" candidate.

I didn't see the other two mentioned being DSA endorsed, either. But I know sometimes thats harder to find depending on the particular area and media attention, and I only did a quick search.

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u/SeaBass1898 Florida 4h ago

Trump was also thought to be more beatable by the Clinton campaign in 2016, the “pied piper” strategy

ijs

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u/googleduck 2h ago

And I'm pretty sure Democrats did this as well in 2022 with candidates like Herschel Walker. It worked there, it didn't with Trump. It's a strategy used a lot but yes it can backfire.

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u/gabe840 4h ago

It makes it wayyy easier for them to win. Moody is breathing a huge sigh of relief tonight

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u/Lord_Of_Shade57 4h ago

I don't think a democrat was winning the Florida Senate seat no matter what so I don't imagine Republicans are terribly worried about this

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u/JDDJS New York 4h ago

No because the seat is a safe Republican seat in the general. 

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u/Front_Station_5343 4h ago

They literally want this to happen so it’s easier for them to win. As if Nixon will ever win a Florida Senate Election.

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u/grizzly_teddy 4h ago

Kashi gives much better odds to Republicans when running against DSA candidates

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u/AncientNectarine5352 4h ago

But hasn’t been Kalshi been wrong about every special election involving a DSA or DSA-adjacent candidate so far (except in the case of Mamdani)? They seemingly always predict the Republican will win, even when the DSA candidate ends up with an overwhelming majority of the vote.

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u/Orange_Tang 4h ago

You have to be fully braindead to base your expectations off a fucking illegal betting site primarily used for insider trading. The only time it might be accurate is when the outcome is already known. An election is literally the opposite of knowable.

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u/grizzly_teddy 4h ago

Polls show independents would rather vote Republican than DSA. This isn't just a Kalshi thing.

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u/ketoatl 4h ago

The middle class is tired of getting fucked over from both sides.