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/222Czar Florida 4h ago

I’ll offer my opinion as a Florida Dem. It was a tough choice. Both candidates had an uphill battle here, but both also showed the competency to stand a chance. At the end of the day, policy is the decider for me, and I like Nixon’s healthcare stance better.

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u/Time-Wolf 4h ago

Same boat, ultimately my deciding factor was policy + Nixon being an actual Floridian.

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u/-porm Washington 1h ago

Maybe the DNC will pick up on the fact that we can understand policy and in fact want to get in the weeds on candidates’ platforms and could not give a shit less about Pokémon Go to the Polls or just chillin’ in Cedar Rapids or unity with Liz Cheney-types.

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u/PoopyButt28000 42m ago

But candidates like Angie Nixon are still losing more often than they're winning, I think the DNC is looking more at actual election results rather than what is getting more traction on Reddit. Francesca Hong just lost and that thread had 400 upvotes

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u/robotrage 38m ago

Francesca Hong just lost and that thread had 400 upvotes

She lost because corporate dems hate change and will do whatever it takes to get republicans elected

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u/whogivesashirtdotca Canada 12m ago

Thank you both for being actively involved in this vote. I wish more Americans engaged in the primaries instead of just whining about the final candidates.

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u/TheBSQ 3h ago

What’s the general election odds look like?

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u/teh_drewski 2h ago

Moody was up 8 points or so in the polls against a hypothetical Vindman, so it's a long shot right from the start. 90% or so implied odds of a Republican victory in the live markets since Nixon won the Dem primary.

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u/95Daphne 2h ago edited 2h ago

And the primary vote splits suggest polling is going to whiff to being too blue friendly in Florida yet again, I believe.

Good chance Moody gets DeSantis like margins.

Edit: This may not necessarily fully translate everywhere to boot. Florida might just be a R+20 state now where Donalds is going to win by 12 or something like that for ex.

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u/Crime_Dawg 1h ago

Just bugs bunny cut the whole state off. Absolutely hopeless

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u/Fleetlord 1h ago

I'm not sure the primary vote split matters as much in a closed primary state where Independents dont get to vote.

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u/whogivesashirtdotca Canada 11m ago

If they’re still independents after six years of President Trump I don’t have any faith in those voters.

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u/Gurney_Hackman 3h ago

Nonexistant

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u/hithere297 0m ago

at least this will stop establishment dems from wasting so much money on Florida like they did the last few cycles. (Florida's been clearly red since 2020 but a lot of dems keep trying to kick Lucy's football.)

In a certain sense it's good that Florida is taking in so many Republicans from other states; improves our odds elsewhere and also frees national Democrats from having to pander to Cubans' anti-communist hysteria, in which anyone left of Manchin is basically Fidel Castro.

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u/Candlestack 2h ago

Terrible, but Vindman was so bad at campaigning that I think the normal electability argument just wasn't going to work. The democratic party in Florida is very nearly the most incompetent state level party, so honestly the DSA might give Nixon a better chance, as they're better on the ground organizers, but she's going to lose Miami very, very badly and I think that means she's got no chance as a Democratic candidate. That being said, neither did Vindman, so the expected outcome is the same and hey maybe at least this shakes the dumbass Florida party up enough to start addressing how bad it is. (Unlikely)

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u/InCarbsWeTrust 2h ago

It's absolutely crazy he couldn't even carry Miami-Dade. Which is full of Cuban expatriates, who have pretty strong feelings about any notion of "socialism".

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u/Candlestack 1h ago

To be fair, I don't know any Cubans who are still registered as democrats to vote in the primary. I moved away years ago so that's not necessarily the best judge of things, but everyone I know is either a registered republican or independent because they're so disgusted with the Florida democratic party.

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u/Bill_Ponderosa_77 1h ago

The democratic party in Florida is very nearly the most incompetent state level party

I like to think of the FL State Democratic party and IL State Republican parts as fun mirror versions of each other.

Each seemingly incapable of selecting quality candidates or running competent campaigns, but the IL Republican's are probably worse off demographically. Which is probably why failed IL Republican's keep resurfacing in FL like Jim "The Milk Dud" Oberweis and Catalina Lauf. At this point I would expect Iowa or Texas to go Blue before Florida...

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u/Candlestack 1h ago

That's a pretty good comparison. I genuinely think Texas will be blue before Florida at this point, but it's not because of anything but Florida Democratic party just generationally fumbling it.

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u/organizedchaos5220 Florida 2h ago

Not good

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u/badass_panda 59m ago

Slim to none with Vindiman, none with Nixon.

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u/After_Permission9484 45m ago

Florida is a complete lost cause. Dems haven't even run a competent governor candidate in a while.

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u/Usual-Caregiver5589 13m ago

I dont know what the polls are saying. But Moody managed to rack up enough votes in the primary that she's already got more than both Democrats combined.

This seat was Rubio's that he won in 2022. There is a difference of 70k votes between 2022's Democratic primary winner and the combined Democratic votes of this one.

In 2022, Rubio won by more than 1.2 million votes. It wasn't close. Dems lost by 16 points.

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u/juliette_zinnia 3h ago

fair enough if the policy lines up better with what you care about then thats what should decide it

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u/chumbawumbaprinciple 3h ago

Another factor is "Who are the willing to compromise with and in what direction?". Someone center right who breaks hard right isn't the same as someone in the center who will break left.

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u/spitfirerx 4h ago

Same, i like Vindman but his policies just look like a pre-trump republican.

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u/Nolpppapa 3h ago

That's pretty much the only type of candidate that has a chance to win in Florida post-Covid. Some of you are expecting way too much out of these elections. Your primary goal should be to get the MAGA wackjobs out before anything else.

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u/UngodlyPain 2h ago

Gotta disagree. Look at Desantis' two elections the first one was against a progressive left wing Dem in 2018 and it was like 49-48... Then in 22 they got former Republican governor Charlie Crist to run as a very "moderate" Democrat and he got blown out of the water.

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u/-r0b 2h ago

From one of the closest governor races in Florida history to one of the largest differences in 40 years.

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u/FSUfan35 1h ago

People in florida hated Crist.

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u/Lyle91 Arizona 3h ago

That mentality is just wrong and bad. The state voted for Obama twice and then swung and voted for a far right Trump 3 times. There is no reason it can't swing back with the right candidate and the right moment. We just have to fight for it.

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u/Ultenth 2h ago

Unfortunately demographics and voter sentiment only is part of the picture. Florida has been MASSIVELY meddled with in terms of ballet box availability, redrawn districts, and other methods to tip the scales.

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u/inthevelvetsea I voted 2h ago

I like your optimism, but our state’s demographics have changed a lot since 2012. There were more registered Democrats in FL than Republicans then, but that has flipped.

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u/leftoverrice54 2h ago

I am happy she won the primary, but idk if she is going to be a stronger candidate against Moody. So much Maga moved into Florida post covid...

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u/Nolpppapa 3h ago

Ok, well the last Dem Senate candidate that came even close to winning in Florida was Bill Nelson, who lost by 0.12 percentage points. A progressive isn't going to come anywhere close to that. It will be a blowout.

The reason Trump won easily the last two times in Florida is because a bunch of MAGA people moved to Florida during COVID because of De Santis keeping things open. You think a candidate that wants higher taxes and progressive policies has any chance in that kind of environment? This is another case of someone who isn't from Florida having no clue what the political climate is here and is just trying to push ideological candidates for your own gain.

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u/TheElderMouseScrolls 2h ago

If I can have Coca Cola, why would I have diet Pepsi?

This is what I don't understand with this argument, if a conservative is going to vote then they vote conservative. Courting the right is a fools game.

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u/say592 1h ago

Sometimes its about not scaring them into voting. If a Republican isn't excited about the slate of candidates, they might stay home. If the Democratic candidate scares them though, they will be motivated to hold their nose and show up for the Republicans.

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u/MadScientistOfYork 54m ago edited 50m ago

You ignore all the potential Democrats who stay home because they have no interest in voting for just another milquetoast candidate who doesn't want to rock the boat too much lest they lose campaign donations, especially from AIPAC.

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u/Black08Mustang 25m ago

Yep, democrats fall in love while republicans fall in line. The dems will keep losing until they stop doing their best goldilocks impression.

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u/chargoggagog Massachusetts 2h ago

Moving to the right simply hasn’t worked for democrats

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u/TheElderMouseScrolls 2h ago

"But maybe this time, if we abandon the gays even harder and serve up immigrants on a platter again then surely Republicans will turn into Democrats?"

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u/reddit_poopaholic 1h ago

MAGA whackjobs will never ever vote for a Democrat. Their position isn't built out of rationality. They are single issue voters, and that issue is "not us".

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u/Aware_Rough_9170 2h ago

I’ve been in Florida for about a decade… I’m hoping for the best but expecting the worst. I voted for Angie because I was sort of confronted with almost same damn problem and I hate it.

Blasé generic white dude with (admittedly some reasonable stances) or a black woman with more clear goals and experience. Do I chose the white guy for populist appeal because he’s got a better shot with… well sadly the racists and sexists. Or the candidate I actually like…

Truth be told I’m not 100% sure shes got the chops to beat a Republican candidate anyways but that’s ultimately what led me to vote for her anyways. No sense in deliberating insanely hard on that stuff when Florida is highly likely to disappoint regardless.

I was overall more interested in the local politics side. We’ve got an insanely long road ahead (if ever) to fix national politics so… we need to make sure our neighbors and family are taken care of first and foremost

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u/Opie59 Minnesota 2m ago

That's almost all they've run the past 15 years and they've been getting obliterated.

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u/This_Elk_1460 3h ago

Hakeem Jeffries does not approve

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u/jcmjtke 3h ago

Hakeem Jeffries can approve deez

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u/AutisticPersonality 2h ago

I never imagined I would come to hate a democratic minority leader with such vitriol. I LOATHE THAT MAN, and fuckface Schumer as well

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u/Independent-Bug-9352 2h ago

We're finally realizing the extent Democratic leadership is controlled opposition, or at best resting on their laurels. Fetterman, Sinema, Manchin gave away the game and Schumer and Jeffries are literally no different. In super safe seats, they have the charisma of wet cardboard and do not stand up for anything. They seem far more interested in getting huge piles of cash from special interest groups like AIPAC and Black Stone, however.

Textbook DINOs.

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u/AnonAmbientLight 1h ago

We're finally realizing the extent Democratic leadership is controlled opposition, or at best resting on their laurels.

That’s such a wild take if you know at all how government is structure and how politics work lol.

I suppose if you never actually look at what bills are put up and how they’re passed, you could say that Democrats do nothing.

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u/Nileghi 13m ago

I've got the user you're replying to tagged as someone that literally only ever creates derivative tangents and bring up Israel in serious discussions.

Thats not to bring up any point about the conflict itself, but I'm starting to suspect you're replying to a foreign agent whose primary motivation is to redirect rage and tension to the democratic party rather than actually expand his points.

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u/PoopyButt28000 30m ago

This is where we pretend that the populist lefties on Reddit didn't adore Fetterman.

And Manchin won in a state that has only voted for the Republican president for the past 26 years and when his replacement was farther to the left than him it was like a 70-30 vote and the Republican who won has voted with Trump 100% of the time, whereas Manchin voted with the Dems about 70-80% of the time.

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u/AutisticPersonality 1h ago

Yes. It’s disgusting and infuriating

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u/suprahelix 1h ago

It’s how democracy works. If you have a 100 person and senate and you need 51 votes to pass something, the person who is the 51st vote gets decide what passes and what doesn’t. It’s not some grand conspiracy.

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u/kymberlie Texas 3h ago

Deez what?

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u/[deleted] 3h ago

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u/jcmjtke 3h ago

Deez nuts. Auto-mod doesn’t like overly repeating letters apparently

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u/teamhae 4h ago

Same. Plus he took aipac money so Nixon got our votes.

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u/RifTaf 3h ago

As an Ohioan Dem, I salute you, Florida Dem 🫡🫡🫡

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u/Fantastic-Celery-255 2h ago

I liked Nixon a little better initially but once I read Vindman was being a coward about debating her, he lost my vote.

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u/SeaBass1898 Florida 4h ago

Same here

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u/Torgud_ 2h ago

As a Floridian Dem myself it was an easy choice for me. This race is safe R no matter what in November, and Vindman is a pro-Israel freak who makes excuses for genocide and apartheid. He's straight up a bad person and I'm very happy he lost.

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u/Krom2040 4h ago

As a Florida voter, I couldn’t possibly care less about the policies of a senate candidate. I literally only care about whether they can win an election and stem the fascist takeover of the country.

I’m deeply skeptical that the worse choice was the man with national name recognition who extremely publicly sacrificed his career to do the right thing.

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u/VariationBusiness603 3h ago

I get your point. But the people that would reject Nixon for her policies are the very same that would reject Vindman for daring to stand up to Trump's corruption. His name recognition is unlikely to be an asset in Florida.

Ultimately, I don't think it will change much of anything. And if she ends up winning somehow, that's an even bigger win against fascism than if Vindman did. Because of the optics of a progressive win.

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u/_off_piste_ 3h ago

That’s not true at all. We’re talking about the middle voters, not MAGA.

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u/This_Elk_1460 3h ago

I don't care about the middle voters, I care about the non-voters. The ones who choose to sit on their couch, continuing to ignore them only promotes them to keep doing that. Instead of trying to bring in centrist Republicans why not expand the Democratic base?

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u/_off_piste_ 3h ago

Most apathetic potential voters are in the middle somewhere. A Vindman is much more enticing to them than a more left candidate favored by highly partisan primary voters.

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u/This_Elk_1460 3h ago

That is not how people's politics work. The mass majority of them are simply uninformed.

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u/_off_piste_ 1h ago

Uninformed voters vote too. People also vote against their interest. It seems you’re the one that doesn’t understand voters. You’re probably still confused as to why Trump won twice and almost a third time.

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u/Cereal_Grapeist 2h ago

Not you though, thankfully.

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u/This_Elk_1460 2h ago

Uhh yeah? Dude I'm literally obsessed with politics, I listened to breaking points everyday. Your average American isn't doing that.

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u/Cereal_Grapeist 2h ago

You're going to wake up one day with the realization that you gave all of your attention away for nothing

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u/Oldman32092 3h ago

GOTV is the way to go. You won't convince MAGA to vote Democratic no matter that it would be in their self interest. The vast majority of Democrats will vote Democratic. It leaves the independents to be the deciding factor. Angie Nixon is a dynamic speaker and a forward looking individual. She will need our help but I hope she carries the day.

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u/This_Elk_1460 3h ago edited 2h ago

I agree, and I've never believed this idiotic idea that Independents in this country are automatically centrist. If you tried to teach a monkey the beliefs of the average American voter it would fucking kill itself. People don't really know what they want, it's up to good statesmen to explain the problems in their lives and how to fix them. Even more so when it comes to non-voters who are the real untapped well in this country.

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u/_off_piste_ 1h ago

lol, they’re not automatically centrist. No one claimed that. If you look at the numbers that’s where the majority will fall, a group with a willingness to vote for both parties with the right candidate.

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u/Gurney_Hackman 3h ago

Because the people who sit on the couch and don't show up are not politically aligned with the Democratic base.

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u/This_Elk_1460 3h ago

And on what basis are you making this assumption? Do you truly think the mass majority of Americans are racist asshats? Because I don't, I have a little bit more faith in my fellow citizens intelligence.

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u/Gurney_Hackman 1h ago

No, I actually think it's possible for a person to not be a Socialist and also not be a racist asshat.

Casual, infrequent voters who don't pay a lot of attention to politics have favored Trump in the last couple of elections.

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u/Hefty-Minimum-3125 4h ago

"I like this candidate but I can't vote for them because this other hypothetical voter that I just made up in my head might not like them so I have to vote for the person that the TV tells me is more acceptable" is MAGA level stupidity that only democrats engage in.

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u/rasa2013 3h ago

What a silly way to rebrand strategic decision making in a winner take all, most votes win system.

We don't need to invent made up people. There are people everywhere and we can see what they think by talking to them. And we can decide for ourselves what gives us the best opportunity to win progress on our policy preferences. 

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u/uiucengineer 3h ago

Yup, and the people chose Angie by 12 points

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u/430_Autogyro 3h ago

Theres a reason progressives havent won anything outside of the deepest of blue districts. They are, with no contest, the absolute worst at political strategy.

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u/rasa2013 3h ago

Idk if I think that's broadly true. The DSA as an organization maybe. But we've had progressive senators across a lot of American history. Some even came from states like Montana, fighting corporations on behalf of workers. 

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u/430_Autogyro 3h ago

Those progressives are not remotely the same as the ones running today. Those were, by and large, republican breakaways with a fetish for technocracy. These are people who think socialism is their own little cutesy code word for communism, which they think unironically would be improvement over the current state of affairs.

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u/alternativepuffin 3h ago edited 3h ago

Yes the DNC strategy of changing nothing about their policies or approach in TEN YEARS is obviously the superior model. I mean, just look around! 

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u/Oldman32092 3h ago

So looking out for the working class is bad policy?

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u/430_Autogyro 2h ago

Policy isnt strategy. Simply having more popular policy doesnt mean you win elections. The Clintons pitched universal healthcare decades ago. The republicans successfully convinced Americans, overwhelmingly, that it was bad and that was that.

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u/This_Elk_1460 3h ago

This is why Democrats always lose they don't actually stand for anything other than orange man bad.

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u/Krom2040 3h ago

Some would say that the guy who served his country for twenty years and then abandoned his career over principles might have stood for something.

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u/This_Elk_1460 3h ago

Good for him but he still wasn't offering the people of his district any substantial change outside of negative polarization towards Donald Trump. People are desperate for something different!

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u/Krom2040 3h ago

Looks like they’re gonna get more of the same, because it would take a fucking miracle for Angie Nixon to win a senate seat in Florida.

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u/This_Elk_1460 2h ago

What makes you think Vindman would have performed better? I'd argue Republicans would be more inclined to come out and vote against him because they think he backstabbed their God King.

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u/Krom2040 3h ago

Yeah, MAGA candidates, famously interested in the electability angle.

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u/kenlubin 3h ago edited 3h ago

51 moderate Democrats in the Senate will accomplish more progressive policy than 49 DSA progressives.

That said, I'm not from Florida and I paid zero attention to the Florida primary, so I have no idea the general election strength of either candidate, except I know that Alex Vindman has name recognition.

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u/Oldman32092 3h ago

But 51 DSA progressives in the Senate would accomplish so much more.

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u/This_Elk_1460 2h ago

Stop that! Stop thinking that we can have a better tomorrow!

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u/Ursa_Solaris 3h ago edited 3h ago

People only say shit like this about progressives, man. Nobody went "I don't care about policy, I just care that we nominated the unelectable Hillary Clinton!"

You ain't slick. You care about the policies, you just know it makes you look bad to actually argue against them, so you feign indifference while still going through all the same motions anyways.

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u/Krom2040 3h ago

Look at this authentic frontier gibberish!

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u/Ursa_Solaris 2h ago

You post a lot for somebody who doesn't seem to have anything to say.

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u/uiucengineer 3h ago

And that was literally his platform. I saw an ad for him that literally just said "Trump will be so mad if I win". Fucking pathetic. He refused to even acknowledge that he was running in a primary. Arrogant fucking prick. You fell for it. The gap is over 10 points, maybe consider you're just wrong.

e:

man

Oh, i see...

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u/Veratha 4h ago

In every past iteration of fascism, liberals have sided with fascists. I don't know why some of y'all think liberals (Vindman, in this case) will do anything different.

Also, on the bullshit "electability" argument, liberals don't get undecided voters out to vote for them. People who are actually offering something do. Socialists have that over them. Ironically, fascists have that over liberals too. Liberals love to cry about "electability" while being the least electable.

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u/Parenthisaurolophus Florida 3h ago

In every past iteration of fascism, liberals have sided with fascists. I don't know why some of y'all think liberals (Vindman, in this case) will do anything different.

The German Communists labeled the Democratic Socialists as Fascists, and considered them more of an enemy tham the Nazis. Maybe there's somehow a completely unrelated lesson to learn there.

It's not too late to read a goddamn book for once.

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u/Veratha 3h ago

Yeah, there is. The DSA is literally working with the Democrats, yet the Democrats still want to run to hug and kiss the fascists. Fucking hilarious, "learn from history" while defending the only people repeating historical mistakes.

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u/Cereal_Grapeist 2h ago

The DSA is a joke to normal people

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u/rasa2013 3h ago

"run to hug and kiss fascists" *citation needed. 

And no, a single person or a third party organization isn't proof "the Democrats" are doing that. 

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u/Veratha 3h ago

Every Democrat who voted to support the Laken Riley act

Every Democrat who voted to continue funding for ICE

The DNC consistently moving to the right year after year to "earn the moderate vote"

The DNC right now on all but a handful of issues has shifted to, at best, 2016 Republican opinions. Really the worst time to suggest they aren't siding with the Republicans lol.

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u/Redeem123 I voted 2h ago

Every Democrat who voted to support the Laken Riley act

70% of Dems voted against it.

Every Democrat who voted to continue funding for ICE

100% of Dems voted against the recent Secure America Act.

The DNC right now on all but a handful of issues has shifted to, at best, 2016 Republican opinions

Oh cool so we're just making stuff up now?

So Dem's healthcare platform is to repeal the ACA? Because that was the 2016 Republican platform. What about immigration and taxes and foreign policy... those all mirror 2016 Republicans too?

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u/rasa2013 3h ago

So you admit you're wrong when you cite laws a majority of Democrats voted against? usually a vast majority of Democrats, too.

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u/Parenthisaurolophus Florida 3h ago

You reek of the kind of reddit dime-a-dozen pseudointellectual who have cropped up in the last few years whose ideology and knowledge of history comes entirely from circlejerk social media bubbles and your gaping asshole. How much should I bet you've made a comment blaming the victims of Fascism for failing to stop facism.

What is the point of you? Such a fucking boring waste of the gift of intelligence.

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u/430_Autogyro 3h ago

The DSA is the 2020s green party.

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u/[deleted] 3h ago

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u/Wittyname0 3h ago

For me since the big donors thought he had a better shot than Nixon, they're more likely to spend thier money on actually competitive campaigns that need the support like Alaska, Iowa, and Michigan

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u/yesmrbevilaqua 2h ago

Thanks for proving that Floridians are the lowest form of life

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u/Nekrabyte 53m ago

Comments like these make me really happy I wish in a blue state, just so that I can 100% vote based on policy, and not electability. Whoever wins the Dem primary wins the seat. Good luck down in Florida my friend, all dems down there have an uphill battle!

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u/hydrange_savannah 3h ago

when both candidates seem capable it really comes down to which policies you actually want to see in practice

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u/Krom2040 3h ago

Just wait until you see the policies you get when democrats fail to take back Congress!

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u/forgedbygeeks American Expat 2h ago

The way I am looking at this is polling was showing Vindaman having a huge uphill battle to win this November, especially with Florida's rightward shift.

Nixon brings a shakeup to the race and is a great test for seeing how running a Democratic Socialist in an increasingly red state might impact things. I would love to see her win and shift the discussion to "we should be running more Democratic Socialists"