TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Million-dollar fundraising advantages and even endorsements from President Donald Trump did little to sway Florida voters Tuesday as they rattled the state’s parties by opposing candidates backed by the establishment.
Newly minted Democratic socialist Angie Nixon scored a massive upset — and notched a win for progressives — by beating retired Lt. Col. Alex Vindman, who had a huge fundraising edge. And, in another major development, two candidates endorsed by Trump, scandal-plagued Rep. Cory Mills and former administration official Catalina Lauf, lost their bids for Congress.
Taken together, the results show Democratic and Republican voters in solidly red Florida are hungry for change amid dissatisfaction with the economy, an ongoing war in Iran and restlessness over the status quo.
“People are frustrated, frankly, with both parties,” said Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia, who is a former legislator and chair of the Republican Party of Florida. “They’re frustrated with people not delivering. … They want people to deliver for Floridians. They want people to deliver for Americans.”
National Democrats scrutinized states throughout the country during the primary season, looking for every opportunity they could find to pick up seats and flip the upper chamber come November. The one thing they may not have been betting on: A progressive who sorely lagged in fundraising scoring an upset in Florida. But that's just what they got with Nixon’s win.
A state lawmaker and Jacksonville community organizer who recently joined the Democratic Socialists of America — but notably did not have DSA’s endorsement — Nixon ended up handily winning with more than 55 percent of the vote, surprising the state as she’s now positioned to campaign against GOP Sen. Ashley Moody, the former state attorney general appointed to the Senate by Gov. Ron DeSantis to replace Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
On Tuesday night, Nixon told supporters who gathered to hear her victory speech in Jacksonville that her win sent “shockwaves” to the Washington establishment.
“And they better get ready,” Nixon said. “When we realize that we are each other, we are not each other's enemies, and that we are all struggling.”
In the state Legislature, Nixon was an adversary of DeSantis and his fellow Republicans, as she notably opposed Florida’s rare mid-decade redistricting push by railing on the newly drawn maps on the House floor in a pink jumpsuit and shouting through a pink megaphone. Nixon campaigned on progressive policies like free childcare and freezing rent nationally, helping her score support from national progressives like Democratic Reps. Maxwell Frost of Florida, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts.
Vindman had a prominent profile as a National Security Council whistleblower who testified in Trump’s first impeachment trial and secured a massive fundraising advantage surpassing $20 million largely from small-dollar donors. Nixon, meanwhile, didn’t scratch $1 million. But being outgunned proved not to be a factor for Nixon.
State Rep. Anna Eskamani, a progressive Democrat from Orlando, said Nixon’s campaign centered around the needs of the working class, from affordability to health care. Those concerns generated enough momentum for Nixon’s campaign to overcome the millions of dollars spent by Vindman.
“It really just speaks to saying that money doesn’t determine everything,” Eskamani said. “They’re tired of health care not being affordable and one job not being enough.”
Some Florida Republicans celebrated Nixon’s victory, believing a progressive will be easier for the GOP to overcome in November.
“It was a wild night in Florida politics,” GOP Rep. Randy Fine said at the victory party for Rep. Byron Donalds after he won his own crowded primary. “I mean, the Nixon win is the greatest gift ever. She’s crazy and should be in jail for the stuff she pulled on the House floor.”
But Fernand Amandi, a Democratic strategist for both David Jolly, who won the Democratic primary for governor, said that Nixon’s win shows frustration with longtime GOP control in Florida.
“It tells me that Democrats are uniting behind a message that holds a Republican Party that has total control over Florida government for 30 years responsible for the cost-of-living crisis that Floridians from all walks of life are suffering through,” Amandi said. “It doesn’t matter which wing of the party — they are uniting behind the message."
On the Republican side, Trump’s endorsement didn’t prove to be the deciding factor in two races. In Florida’s 19th District, Trump’s endorsed candidate, Lauf, a former adviser at the U.S. Department of Commerce during the president’s first term, lost to Jim Schwartzel, a media executive and owner of a conservative talk radio station, by about 7 points.
It was a crowded field, with several former congressmen, including former North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn and New York Rep. Chris Collins also running.
In Florida’s 7th District, Mills fell short of his bid to hold on to his seat, even with the president’s early backing. Instead, former television anchor Ryan Elijah defeated him by about 12 percentage points.
Under investigation by the House and shunned by some of his GOP colleagues in Congress, pressure has been building on Mills for weeks and only intensified recently as Republicans like DeSantis and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna came out against him. Mills has remained adamant that he has done nothing wrong amid a long line of incidents — including a restraining order placed on him at the request of a former girlfriend — and had defied calls from other Republicans to step down from his central Florida congressional seat.
Mills hoped Trump’s endorsement would put him over the line with voters, but it wasn't enough. Elijah, who outraised Mills and other GOP contenders, tried to make the case during the campaign that a Mills win would make the seat an easier target for Democrats.
During his victory speech Tuesday night, Elijah highlighted the support he got from rank-and-file House Republicans, particularly Rep. Mike Haridopolos, with whom he said he has had a long relationship. And he noted the risk those GOP members took in balking against a Trump-endorsed candidate.
"To have those leaders jump on board with us a couple weeks ago, against an incumbent and against a presidential endorsement, and they did that anyway." Elijah said. "That is courage right there, and I applaud them for that."
