Sanders set to campaign for Nixon in Florida

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is heading to Florida over the weekend to campaign for Angie Nixon, the Democratic nominee for Senate.

Sanders has crisscrossed the country in recent months to turn out support for Democratic Senate candidates, including Troy Jackson in Maine, Peggy Flanagan in Minnesota and Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan.

The Vermont senator will join Nixon, a state lawmaker, at four events around the state on Saturday and Sunday in Tampa, Gainesville, Tallahassee and Melbourne. Nixon, a democratic socialist, has been criticized by some more mainstream Democrats since winning her August primary. She faces an uphill battle in the red state against incumbent Sen. Ashley Moody (R-Florida).

Sanders and Nixon share a progressive identity. Nixon is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America while Sanders, although not a member, has long identified with the movement. She also supports “Medicare for All,” Sanders’s hallmark universal health care plan, free childcare, a national rent freeze and “taxing billionaires,” among other policies that mirror Sanders’s platform.

Sanders endorsed Nixon in August and, earlier this month, donated $250,000 to the Florida Democratic Party to support her and other Democrats in the state.

“Angie’s campaign is proof that Democratic voters are looking for candidates who will fight for them and who will take on the greed of the billionaire class,” Sanders said in a statement when he endorsed Nixon.