By Mitch Perry
As progressives rack up victories in other parts of the country against moderate Democrats, Florida’s Aug. 18 primary could prove a big test for that movement.
Retired U.S. Army Lt. Col Alex Vindman has tried to reserve his rhetorical fire for Sen. Ashley Moody, the Republican incumbent, instead of his Democratic primary opponent, the fiery Jacksonville state Rep. Angie Nixon, reprimanded by the House of Representatives earlier this year for her megaphone-fuelled protest on the House floor that disrupted a vote on new congressional district maps.
Nixon has plenty to criticize about Moody, as well. But she’s concentrated on contrasting her progressive stances against the more centrist Vindman, who is running for political office for the first time after moving to Broward County in 2023.
As the primary inches closer, tensions between the two continue to grow, from initial acrimony over Vindman’s refusal to debate Nixon before the primary, to outrage over a recent social media remark attacking Nixon as a “shitty human” who should “buy some professional clothes for the love of everything (including shoes).”
For his part, Vindman says he doesn’t believe hype about the growing clout of progressives — at least not in Florida.
“I think actually I’m not sure if I see those trend lines in Florida. I see them in urban cores in different parts of the country, New York. But what’s applicable in New York doesn’t necessarily resonate and carry over to the ‘Free State of Florida,’ Vindman told the Florida Phoenix last week.
Moody
As for Moody, on the campaign trail and social media she has denounced left-leaning Democrats — an argument that might lose its resonance if she faces Vindman rather than Nixon in the fall.
“They are anarchist psychos who want to destroy this country,” Moody said while speaking at the Republican Party of Florida’s Sunshine State Showdown in Hollywood last month. She cited a public opinion survey that she said showed how few Democrats say they love America.
“What’s on the ballot in November is more than just Republican vs. Democrat,” she declared. “It is: Are you a patriot or are you not?”
Moody is being challenged for the Republican nomination by three opponents — election integrity advocate Chris Gleason, physician and author Neelam Taneja Perry, and Presbyterian minister Ernie Rivera.
Polling
There’s been little public polling between the two Democrats as the primary nears. That dearth of information was in part a major reason why several news organizations (including the Phoenix) seized on a poll released last month that showed Nixon doing slightly better than Vindman against Moody in a presumptive one-on-one matchup in November.
There are clear distinctions between the two on domestic and foreign policy.
Both support a raise in the federal minimum wage. But while Vindman wants a boost to $17 per hour, Nixon says it should be much higher.
“I was one of the statewide organizers helping to lead that minimum wage campaign back in 2020, and so I want to be perfectly clear about that. So, raising it to $15 an hour, I believe at a minimum we need a $25-$26-dollar minimum wage, and we can get there by taking incremental steps as it relates to small businesses if they are worried about taking on that cost,” she said.
“We haven’t had a minimum wage increase in a generation,” Vindman said, noting the federal government last raised it to $7.25 in 2009. “It should be indexed to make sure people aren’t falling further and further behind.”
Israel
A key point of difference is support for Israel.
As the Phoenix has previously reported, Nixon has been outspoken in her support for Palestinian rights. When she sponsored a resolution calling for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas a month after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, members of both political parties shunned her and said anyone who supported her proposal was antisemitic.
“Palestinians were losing their lives at record high rates,” Nixon said recently when asked about that moment. “And to have people turn their back on me. To be called a terrorist on the House floor. Ignorant. Antisemitic. That was very hurtful. But I will always fight to stand on the right side of history, and I believe that I was on the right side of history then just like I’m on the right side of history now.”
Vindman is a stalwart supporter of Israel, but critical of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and supportive of a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians.
Debate?
A big point of contention is that Vindman has avoided a debate with Nixon, much to her disappointment. His “audacity” to refuse a debate, she said, is “wild to me.”
“It just shows you that he does not know Florida,” she said. “He has no clue in regard to the issues that we face here in this state. He’s a millionaire. He doesn’t understand working class issues.” (A review of Vindman’s Senate financial disclosure form shows that he has made more than $1.4 million from the Here Right Matters Foundation, which he founded).
Vindman has aimed most of his criticism towards Moody, not Nixon.
“Angie has been a terrific fighter in the state House, there’s no question,” he told reporters last month. “She’s been a champion. … She should be celebrated for her contributions.”
Trash talk
That point illustrates how, in a divisive political environment, the Democratic candidates initially tried to remain civil to one another. But as Aug. 18 neared, that changed.
Rachel Vindman, who is married to Alex Vindman, wrote an aggressive social media post on @threads late last week that she removed within hours and by day’s end had her issuing a public apology to Nixon.
Ms. Vindman never mentioned Nixon by name in her original post, something she made a point of. “I know you’re checking my page and yes I am talking about you, but I won’t say your name because you’re not worth it,” she wrote.
Rachel Vindman said a “s— human ” was making personal attacks against their opponent at campaign events “attended by less than 20 people.”
As an aside, she added, “Also, buy some professional clothes for the love of everything (that includes shoes.)”
Nixon supporters quickly responded.
“This is disgusting, tone deaf and beyond out of touch,” Central Florida Democratic state Sen. Lavon Bracy Davis wrote on Facebook.
During her six years in Tallahassee, Nixon hasn’t been able to get much passed in the GOP-controlled House — and she’s not the only one, given the GOP’s supermajorities in both legislative chambers.
She’s become better known for her activism, sometimes on the House floor, including protests against the Legislature’s approvals of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ congressional redistricting maps in 2022 and earlier this year.
Money, money, money
One of Vindman’s most remarkable feats as a candidate to date has been his ability to raise money — more than $19 million since getting into the race in January, more than anyone else in the contest (Moody had raised more than $14 million by the end of June). Many of those donations have come from across the country, demonstrating his appeal to liberals who remember his involvement in the 2019 impeachment hearings against President Donald Trump.
It’s a skill he shares with his identical twin brother — Eugene Vindman raised $14 million in his successful run for Congress in Virginia in 2024 and he’s already raised $12 million in his bid for re-election this year.
Vindman’s fundraising prowess may not mean that much in a one-on-one matchup with Moody. Democrat Val Demings crushed Marco Rubio in fundraising in the 2022 Senate race, yet Rubio won by 16 points that year.
“These previous races that you talked about were with true incumbents that had been tested, that had been proven in the field,” Vindman responds.
Moody has won two statewide elections, both by comfortable margins. She won her first race for attorney general by six points in 2018 and by 22 points in 2022. Vindman, however, has never run a statewide campaign before now.
All together now
While the candidates aren’t in lockstep on all issues, they hope to parlay Moody’s role in the Hope Florida Foundation controversy and the siphoning of $10 million in Medicaid funds to political committees. A Leon County grand jury investigated the transaction but its report, officially called a presentment, has not been released.
Vindman has launched a website with a petition calling on Moody to push for the release of the presentment.
A spokesperson for the Moody campaign said the senator doesn’t oppose public release of the report, but did not comment about whether the senator would advocate for its release.
“This was an Agency for Health Care Administration agreement that AHCA chose to negotiate and settle through AHCA-lawyers and outside counsel almost two years ago. This information is publicly available in previously released documents,” said Cameron Gambini, communications director for the Moody campaign. ‘The Senator has had no role in any grand jury proceedings and would certainly have no issue with the public release of any report.”
Nixon, meanwhile, has said Moody should resign from office.
Mitch Perry has covered politics and government in Florida for more than two decades. Most recently he is the former politics reporter for Bay News 9. He has also worked at Florida Politics, Creative Loafing and WMNF Radio in Tampa. He was also part of the original staff when the Florida Phoenix was created in 2018. Florida Phoenix reporter Christine Sexton also contributed to this story.
Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization. This story is republished with their permission. To support Florida Phoenix, click here:
See you soon
I’m on a two-week sabbatical, but will be back before the Florida primary election. In the meantime, I hope to use this space to share articles of interest from guest contributors from time to time, such as today’s article.
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Our democracy as we’ve known it for 250 years is at risk. To save it, we will need a groundswell of support from voters in the coming midterm election.
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Thanks.
J.C. Bruce
Reminder:
Miss Mingo is also on vacation. Her Saturday column will return soon.
I’ve followed Angie Nixon’s career for some time now and never once have I ever thought she’s bought and paid for. However, when a candidate is a millionaire, that’s not someone for the people or of the people, that is the 1% who will ultimately push for the rights of that 1%. Vote Nixon.
Unite behind whoever wins the primary! Another Senate win for Dems would be huge.