Democratic socialist candidate and Florida state Rep. Angie Nixon scored a stunning upset victory over her establishment-backed opponent, retired Air Force Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, in Tuesday’s Democratic Senate primary. Nixon defeated Vindman 56.1% to 43.9%.
Vindman, you may recall, was the senior National Security Council (NSC) official who listened in on the July 2019 phone call between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and later became then-Rep. Adam Schiff’s (D-CA) star witness in the House impeachment inquiry that followed.
Vindman was considered the odds-on favorite to win. Yet despite being heavily outspent, Nixon won the race by more than 12 points. Ahead of the primary, Nixon’s chances of victory on prediction website Kalshi were less than 10%, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The Journal reported, “Nixon raised just $975,000, according to federal campaign filings, well short of the $16.3 million taken in by Vindman. Heading into election night, she was seen as a heavy underdog.”
So, while Nixon has no chance of winning the general election, her defeat of anti-Trump darling and establishment Democrat Vindman is significant.
Congratulations to Alex Vindman and his whole team on duping ActBlue boomers out of $16.2m only to lose a DSA nobody https://t.co/8XA6lQOsnU
— Philip Letsou (@philipletsou) August 19, 2026
Nixon will face Republican incumbent Sen. Ashley Moody in the general election, where she is expected to lose. In fact, immediately after the race was called, election forecasting site Sabato’s Crystal Ball moved the Florida Senate race from “Likely Republican” to “Safe Republican.”
Crystal Ball Senate rating change
FL-SEN moves from Likely R to Safe R after Angie Nixon upsets Alexander VIndman in the Dem primary.
— Kyle Kondik (@kkondik) August 19, 2026
Nixon, 42, was first elected to the Florida statehouse in 2020.
Unsurprisingly, she was adamantly opposed to the Republicans’ redistricting efforts this spring. In protest, she famously marched through the legislative chamber while shouting into a pink bullhorn. Her wildly inappropriate performance can be viewed in the clip below.
Remember this crazy lady? She just won the Democrat primary for US Senate in Florida.
Angie Nixon is a member of DSA. pic.twitter.com/iZR0wfgpK2
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) August 19, 2026
According to The Wall Street Journal:
She introduced a Gaza ceasefire bill in 2023 that was defeated by a vote of 104 to 2.
She was arrested for sitting in DeSantis’s office to protest the redistricting. She faces two misdemeanor charges over her governor’s office protest and is due in court next month, according to local court records.
The antisemitic candidate’s platform reads as though it were lifted straight from the DSA playbook.
WOW! Democrats’ Florida US Senate candidate is a straight-up SOCIALIST; Ashley Moody is preparing to clobber her in November
Angie Nixon supports Medicare for all, abolishing ICE, and free everything
She’s also pro-Palestine and pro-Islamist. pic.twitter.com/w2eyLhBb7k
— Sergeant News Network (@sgtnewsnetwork) August 19, 2026
In the clip below from a June campaign speech, Nixon tells supporters, “We have nothing to lose but our chains.”
Angie Nixon in June campaign speech:
“We have nothing to lose but our chains.”
This is the lunatic Democrats are running for Senate in Florida. pic.twitter.com/JKshxD1G0Z
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) August 19, 2026
Following her victory, Nixon spoke to MS Now’s Jen Psaki where she regurgitated DSA talking points.
“Donald Trump and Ashley Moody being so out of touch with folks and working less & less & less and getting richer..”
“I know for a fact what it’s like to struggle.”
The always real Angie Nixon after her winning the Dem Senate primary to face off vs ReNutican Moody.
🎥 @TWDTV1 https://t.co/CwMAhtyCUc pic.twitter.com/i5DSL7vAkm— Andrew Jerell Jones, Luke 1:37 (BlueSky too now) (@sluggahjells) August 19, 2026
In the clip below from Tuesday night, conservative commentator and National Review writer Noah Rothman told a CNN panel, “I mean, I can’t believe we’re all dancing around the news tonight. This is not a Republican story tonight. The story tonight is the DSA overcoming the establishment Democrat …”
He was interrupted by moderator Abby Phillips who said, “We’re not dancing around it, but I appreciate your pivot.”
Rothman continued his thought, ” …overcoming a 16-1 spending advantage and sacrificing what could have been a competitive seat. This is a sacrifice. There’s two things I wouldn’t want to be as a Florida statewide candidate. Anti-Israel and communist-curious. And that’s exactly what Democrats voted for in the Senate tonight. They basically took this race off the board for themselves.”
“The story tonight is the DSA overcoming the establish Democrat…” @NoahCRothman on the FLSEN primary results
NOAH ROTHMAN: I mean, I can’t believe we’re all dancing around the news tonight. This is not a Republican story tonight. The story tonight is the DSA overcoming the… pic.twitter.com/ziL2fyEvnM
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) August 19, 2026
While Rothman was right about the Senate primary, Florida Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) scored a resounding victory against his DSA-backed challenger, progressive union organizer Oliver Larkin, by a margin of 63.5% to 36.5%.
This race marked the final test this primary cycle for a DSA-backed congressional candidate, following a series of victories in deep-blue districts in New York, Michigan, and Colorado.
While DSA candidates in New York and Colorado are likely to win their races in November, Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed faces a tough fight.
Although Vindman likely would have ultimately lost to Moody in deep-red Florida, Nixon’s defeat in the general election is all but assured.
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