Republicans See Trump in Angie Nixon

Angie Nixon is a progressive, outspoken, defiant democratic socialist from Jacksonville. Some of the Republicans trying to beat her say she reminds them of Donald Trump.

Florida Republicans told Politico that Nixon's Senate campaign echoes Trump's. They describe her as energetic and outspoken, a candidate who is happy to pick a fight with the establishment, including her own party's.

What they see is populism. Populism, though recently championed by Trump and the far-right, can turn up on the left or the right. The two obviously differ on policy, but they are alike in style: both campaign as outsiders, talk bluntly and campaign as a voice for ordinary people over those in charge.

They also got here the same way. In 2016, Trump was the outsider who beat establishment favorites like former Florida governor Jeb Bush, Ohio governor John Kasich, and Texas senator Ted Cruz for the Republican nomination. This August, Nixon upset Alexander Vindman, a retired Army lieutenant colonel and former National Security Council official. Vindman, a moderate favored by national Democrats, raised about 16 times as much money as she did. She won the Democratic nomination 705,835 votes to 553,138.

On CNN this month, she said Sen. Ashley Moody should be "locked up and punished in jail" over the Hope Florida controversy. The remark was similar to Trump's "lock her up" chant from 2016. Moody has not been charged and denies wrongdoing. Her campaign called the remark "a tactic straight from the Communist playbook." And when far-right activist Laura Loomer called her an "anti-white racist," Nixon wrote back, "Nah. I just don't like YOU!"

That combative streak has also caused tension in her own party. Days after the Senate primary, Nixon and Florida Democratic Party chair Nikki Fried had a heated phone call, Axios reported. Fried warned that Nixon's membership in the Democratic Socialists of America would hand Republicans an easy line of attack. Nixon said the party had ignored her campaign and told Fried, "You never gave a care about me from the beginning, and now you're telling me how to run my campaign?" and "Stop gaslighting me!"

Some Republicans are curious anyway. James Fishback—the far-right, controversial, and outspoken young investor who ran in the Florida gubernatorial Republican primary—said he planned to go to one of Nixon's rallies. "I may disagree with them, but they've tapped into something, and I want to see it for myself," he told the Miami Herald.

Florida Democrats may be testing whether some of Trump's strengths can work for a candidate with a very different agenda: the high energy, the fighter's persona and the sense of talking straight to voters. They need it to. Trump won Florida by 13 points in 2024, so Nixon has to win over people who don't usually vote for Democrats. "It's not about right or left or centrist or progressive," she told The Lever.

So far the polls say it isn't enough. Moody leads 49.9% to 43.2% in the polling average, and the Cook Political Report rates the race Solid Republican. Nixon did outraise Moody by about $2 million last quarter, which gives her money for one last push before Floridians vote on Nov. 3, though Moody still has more cash on hand.

Photos: Florida House of Representatives; The White House/Daniel Torok; Gage Skidmore, Anthonyjayphotos / Wikimedia Commons. Map: Wikimedia Commons.