Sanders endorses Nixon in Florida Senate race

Progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is backing Florida state Rep. Angie Nixon (D), who notched an upset victory in Florida’s Senate Democratic primary this week.

“Angie Nixon is proof that organized people can take on organized money — and win. Outspent more than 16 to 1, she won in a landslide. Working people all over this country are sick and tired of status quo politics and status quo policies. They want change, real change,” Sanders wrote on social media Thursday afternoon.

Nixon was the first to share the news of the Vermont senator’s endorsement to social media, writing that she was “deeply honored” to have his support.

“Senator Bernie Sanders has been a champion for working people his entire career, and I’m proud to have stood alongside him in 2016 and to carry that fight forward today,” Nixon wrote on social media Thursday.

Nixon, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), achieved a surprise upset Tuesday in the Sunshine State’s Democratic primary for Senate. The state representative beat Alex Vindman, who came to national prominence as a witness in President Trump’s 2019 impeachment hearings, by more than 12 points.

Nixon is set to battle Republican incumbent Sen. Ashley Moody in the fall, both vying to complete the final two years of a Senate term Secretary of State Marco Rubio cut short to join the president’s Cabinet.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in January 2025 appointed Moody , the state’s former attorney general, to replace Rubio until the next general election.

The Florida state representative’s win this week follows a larger wave of progressive and democratic socialist victories in Democratic primaries across the country. Amid growing division between these candidates and establishment Democrats, Nixon called for party unity in a CBS Mornings appearance Wednesday, saying “people want the same things” despite “labels.”