Jacksonville Democratic state Rep. Angie Nixon brought her “Awake the State” listening tour to the Tampa Bay area this weekend as she gears up to run for another elected position — possibly the U.S. Senate seat now held by Republican Ashley Moody.
“We have the opportunity to build a new vision,” Nixon told a gathering Sunday afternoon at a brewery in St. Petersburg’s Grand Central District.
“A spanking new vision, where all families have stability, all workers have dignity, and all children have the opportunity to actually reach the American dream that we have been taught about in schools.
“But we have to make sure that we get involved, right? And we have to make sure that we elect people who care more about working families than they care about padding their pockets. As I’ve been traveling the state, and talking to people and listening to folks, we need fighters who are willing to be on the frontlines. And that’s why I’m excited to let you know that I am really strongly considering running for the United State Senate.”
A Jacksonville native, Nixon has represented a portion of Duval County in the Florida House since 2020, where as a member of the political minority she has at best limited influence over state policy. She said in October that she will not run for re-election next year, even though she’s not term-limited out of office until 2028. When the Phoenix asked why, Nixon simply sighed and said it was time to move on.
Similarly, in the Facebook post making that announcement, she gave no reason for her decision to leave the seat, but instead directed her supporters to go directly to her website. There they can contribute to the federal exploratory committee that she set up in August, which allows her to collect and spend money while still determining whether she wants to commit to an effort for federal office.
She told the Phoenix last month and again Sunday that while she might run for the Senate next year, she also might choose to stay local and run for a seat on the Jacksonville City Council in 2027.
Field for U.S. Senate in ’26
Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Moody to the Senate in January after President Donald Trump nominated Marco Rubio for secretary of state. The most prominent Democrat to enter the Senate race is former Brevard County School Board member Jennifer Jenkins. A public opinion poll conducted by the University of North Florida’s Public Opinion Research Lab in October showed Moody with an 11-point lead over Jenkins, 49%-38%.
The Cook Political Report listed the race in October as a “solid R” seat.
Nixon has been one of the most progressive Democrats serving in the House since her first election in 2020. She said she embarked on her statewide tour “because I feel like Floridians can’t keep waiting for things to get better someday.”
“We literally have folks who are empowered in our state and in our country who are saying that they want to make America ‘great again’ and return back to the ‘good ole days,’” she said.
“But the reality is the good ole days weren’t good enough for everyone, right? I know they weren’t good enough for women all the time. They weren’t good enough for Black people, or for Hispanic and Latino people, all the time. They definitely weren’t good enough for members of the LGTBQ community all the time, or working-class folks at all, like workers. Actual workers who actually help keep this country moving.”
She lamented the scheduled ending of the enhanced subsidies for individuals on the Affordable Care Act that are scheduled to end on December 31. She said she recently talked to one Floridian who is going to see their health insurance deductible soar from $4,000 annually to $15,000.
Nixon, a mother of five, criticized proposals pushed by Republicans over the past two legislative sessions that would have allowed teenagers as young as 14 to work overnight on school days and work longer than eight hours the day before a school day. (Those measures died in both sessions).
She noted that the Legislature earlier this year repealed a 2023 law requiring middle schools to start no later than 8 a.m. and high school no later than 8:30 a.m.
“The reason you want them to go to school late is because you want them to work them all night because you want cheap labor,” she said about lawmakers and others who supported that legislation.
The purpose of her statewide tour is to let people know that “we deserve so much more,” Nixon said.
“We deserve to live in a country and in a state where everyone has the opportunities to be healthy,” she continued. “To be prosperous, to experience joy and to experience rest. We deserve to have elected officials who care about people, who are going to stand up to the big corporations. Big corporations who profit off of us being divided and fighting amongst each other. Division is very popular. … Division is possible because it keeps us off what they’re doing, and how they are padding the campaign coffers of these folks that are passing these detrimental bills to our community.”
‘The biggest pain’
Nixon has proudly proclaimed herself “the biggest pain in Ron DeSantis’ ass,” and has earned the enmity of Republicans over the years, such as when she led a protest on the House floor in 2022 to protest a vote on the congressional map drawn up by DeSantis that eliminated two districts where Black residents constituted a plurality.
Republican Party of Florida Chair Evan Power mocked Nixon after she wrote on social media in September that she was considering a bid for Senate. “I needed a good laugh today, looks like @AngieNixon wants to lose a U.S. Senate race. I think it’s a great idea,” Power wrote on X.
Introducing Nixon Sunday was her Florida Democratic House colleague, Michele Rayner, who represents parts of Pinellas and Hillsborough counties.
Rayner has filed to run for the Florida Senate District 16 Tampa Bay area seat that will be vacated next year by Democratic incumbent Darryl Rouson due to term limits. Among her opponents in that Democratic primary next August is Florida House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell. Rayner told the liberal-leaning audience on Sunday that they should vet all candidates when they go to vote next year, Republican and Democrat alike.
“As you guys get inundated with candidates, especially candidates from the same party, I’m here to tell you that not everybody is cut from the same cloth,” she said. “You need to make sure that the people who are running – whether they’re a Democrat, they’re running as a Democrat — they actually give a s*** about you. There are many people that are running so that they can pad their own pockets and make their situation better, but don’t give a s*** about people.”
Nixon’s next stop on her “Awake the State” listening tour will take place in Tampa on Monday night.
Source:
https://www.miamitimesonline.com/news/florida/democrat-angie-nixon-is-still-strongly-considering-a-run-for-u-s-senate/article_efd629c5-18cc-4fc4-bacb-2986c4bc8a5f.html