Angie Nixon knows how to make one dollar stretch into fifteen.
Last night, her $975k campaign beat a $16.2 million campaign, making the former single mom and union organizer the Democratic nominee for Florida’s U.S. Senate seat. Nixon beat out Alex Vindman, Former Director for European Affairs for the United States National Security Council, and earned over 56 percent of the vote, underscoring the growing appetite for progressive policy nationwide.
In one of her first post-victory interviews, Nixon sits down with Tim Dickinson to talk general election preparation against Republican incumbent Sen. Ashley Moody. Nixon explains the importance of making life affordable for Floridians, and discusses Cafe Resistance — her thriving bookstore, cafe, and community hub.
Angie Nixon is the Democratic nominee from Florida for the U.S. Senate. She is a State Representative in Florida and previously served as a union organizer.
The following transcript has been edited for formatting purposes.
Tim Dickinson
Hey, this is Tim Dickinson for The Contrarian. Our guest today is fresh off a stunning victory in Florida to become the Senate nominee for the Democratic Party. Angie Nixon, welcome to The Contrarian.
Angie Nixon
Hey, I am so happy to be here.
Tim Dickinson
You won under the slogan, Change Can’t Wait, and it’s provocative, and I wonder if you could just tell us a bit about yourself in the context of that slogan, and just introduce yourself to our listeners and our viewers.
Angie Nixon
Yeah, for sure. So, change can’t wait. I am a lifelong Floridian, born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida. I watched my mom struggle to make sure that me and my brother had food on the table and a roof over my… over our heads. And right now, I am a married woman with 5 kids, me and my husband have a blended family. And I’ve had the opportunity to serve as a state lawmaker for 6 years, but before that, I was a union organizer and a community organizer. And I actually am proof positive of what happens when you invest in members of the community to become community leaders that would later become lawmakers. And what’s so interesting about my trajectory as a state lawmaker is that, I really only file legislation that would actually help benefit the community, because it comes from the community, right? And I believe that hard-working, everyday people should get to shape what our economies look like and what our communities look like. And right now, what’s happening is. we have corrupt politicians in DC, like the unelected Ashley Moody’s of the world and Donald Trump, who are so out of touch with everything that’s happening right now, because they get to work less and less. Meanwhile, we are working harder than ever, us everyday working families, with very little to show for it, and also. Basically, kind of struggling just to stay afloat. And so, I am, running for United States Senate because I believe now is the time to send bold fighters to Washington, D.C, who are gonna stand up and push back against all of the chaos and corruption that’s happening at the hands of Ashley Moody and Donald Trump. You see, Ashley Moody is someone who is only beholden to these corrupt corporations. She actually voted to end the ACA subsidies, which knocked off nearly 300,000 people in the state of Florida off of the Affordable Care Act rolls. And she also made our… that also made, private insurance, Folks, their private insurance premiums to go up. And what else Ashley Moody did that was very corrupt was she allowed Ron DeSantis to divert $10 million of funding that should have gone towards the most medically needy kids in our state to be used to defeat two citizen-led ballot initiatives in our state that would have helped improve the health and well-being of residents here in Florida. And so she is not someone who should be our U.S. Senator. She is someone who honestly needs to be investigated and possibly locked away for basically taking advantage and utilizing money that was supposed to go and help people help our children, get healthy, right? And so, that’s a little bit about me and why I’m running. I know I just gave you a mouthful.
Tim Dickinson
No, I appreciate it. I really… I like it when guests burst out of the gate, because it helps us get a sense of your fire, which I think is partly… Must be part of your secret sauce here, because you were outspent, I think, 16 to 1, is what I read. And so help us understand a little bit, like, mechanically, how did you win the state of Florida against somebody who was sort of handpicked by the establishment and had so much backing?
Angie Nixon
Tim, let me tell you. So, I have been an organizer, organizing in this state for nearly two decades, so I have been able to build a very diverse and large coalition of people all across the state of Florida who know how to organize and know how to run an old-fashioned organizing, grassroots, organizing a ground game. But what’s even more important, Tim, to note is that I was a single mama for 12 years. So I know how to make a dollar stretch, okay? And I was able to stretch. We actually crossed the million dollar mark. I was able to make that dollar stretch like it was probably 15, and so I am going to continue to do that, but we are happy because we’re getting a lot more attention based on the fact that we had this massive upset that we knew was gonna happen, we just didn’t know it was gonna be by that much. But we’ve been able to fundraise off of, this win, and we know that we’re gonna have what we need to unseat Ashley Moody and also make her get ready to call me U.S. Senator.
Tim Dickinson
The president on True Social last night referred to you as a radical left lunatic, among some other nonsense that he added to that. I’m out here in Portland, Oregon. The idea that someone calls them a democratic socialist doesn’t have a lot of sting out here, but I imagine in South Florida, maybe that has a little bit of a sting. Do you want to contextualize your politics and your association with the DSA?
Angie Nixon
Oh, yeah, absolutely. I just recently joined the DSA because I was asked. I also just recently joined Working Family Party, and the reason I joined those organizations is because they believe how… I believe in how the majority of Americans feel that housing is a right. They believe that we should all have access to affordable healthcare, as well as fully funded public schools. I also believe that we need to get rid of the corruption and hold people accountable if they are lawmakers and doing the wrong things, and they believe in transparency. Now, the only lunatic, I would say, would honestly be Donald Trump, who is actually, going off on tangents and calling for the assassination of of sitting lawmakers and threatening judges, and he needs to get checked out. And as a matter of fact. I just think he possibly needs to be arrested. And for him to say, I am this left-wing lunatic when I simply want people to have housing is very disrespectful and disingenuous. And so, I just want folks to know that they should not allow people’s labels to deter them. They should worry about the fact that I care about people’s needs, and I have a proven track record of doing such. And so, I am not going to let Donald Trump deter me from going out having conversations with millions of Floridians here in this state. to let them know that I am their only hope to actually drive down these costs, and to make their lives better here in the state of Florida.
Tim Dickinson
You’re somebody who… who… I got arrested in a protest at a sit-in at Ron DeSantis’ office, protesting. the egregious redistricting plan. Can you talk to us a little bit about, you know, you have this role as a lawmaker, but you’re also willing to sort of take a more grassroots approach, as it were, to drawing attention to an important issue?
Angie Nixon
Tim, you know, the late, great Congressman John Lewis said, sometimes it’s necessary to get in some good trouble, you know, that necessary trouble. And Donald Trump asked Ron DeSantis to rig maps so that he could have the, the elected officials, the chambers that he needed. He wanted them to be read, because he’s fearful that he has gone quite too far. And so, I am someone who is clearly a Black woman, and I come from people, elders, who some are still alive. Who faced death. who faced… the bludgeoning of axe handles, simply because they wanted to gain their right to vote, and gain the right for someone like me to be a sitting state lawmaker and a future U.S. senator. And I could not sit idly by, as I witnessed. Ron DeSantis and Republican legislators here in the state of Florida want to take away our ability to decide who would represent us. and allow these politicians to decide who their voters were. And so, I did lead a peaceful protest. And right now, we are boldly being attacked, Tim, and in this moment, it does not require us to continually send strongly worded emails. People are actively being shot and killed on the streets by masked people that are, they are law enforcement officers, you know, ICE, and they are on camera, and they’re not being held accountable. Our democracy is being actively destroyed. I’m not gonna sit idly by and not say anything. I’m going to work to galvanize our country, galvanize people outside, and I’ll organize people on the inside so that we can have an inside-outside strategy to actually build a new vision for our country, one where every family has stability, and one where every worker has dignity. And that has been resonating with people, and that is what’s going to save our country.
Tim Dickinson
The polling shows this is going to be an uphill fight, and I suppose having just won an uphill fight, you maybe have some confidence about it. What gives you the confidence, especially in Ron DeSantis’ Florida, right? This is a state that has been trending redder and redder, that the state is ready to elect someone like you to be the senator.
Angie Nixon
So, this state is not red. This state has not been invested in. the only polls that I care about are the polls on Election Day, and that was evident because of what just happened last night. And so, I am going to unseat Ashley Moody. She should be very concerned. Ashley Moody does not like talking to people. She only goes on, news stations where they are favorable. I will go any and everywhere if it is for the benefit of my people, and my people are everyone in the state of Florida. And I’m gonna look out for them because I have their back, I know what we deserve, and I look forward to engaging them into our campaign. We have amassed over 30,000 volunteers to sign up, and several, I would say. Over 10,000 have signed up since last night, and so people are ready for change. They like what I’m talking about, but more importantly, they like that not only do I talk the talk, I walk the walk. And so I’m ready to, be 10 toes down with them, get my hands dirty so that we can actually win this thing come November.
Tim Dickinson
Would you tell us about your bookstore?
Angie Nixon
Yeah!
Tim Dickinson
Cafe.
Angie Nixon
Oh, you mean the one that she did not state correctly? It is not called Resistance Cafe. It is called Cafe Resistance Bookstore and Coffee Shop, and we are a community hub which, sells books, we sell coffee, we sell healthy food options. We also are a third space Where we do free tutoring and free mental health workshops. We have a free mentorship program for Black boys, because there has been this negative connotation out there that Black boys are a problem, and so we want to dispel that and really uplift and feed into our young Black men, and we have a ton of Black mentors that are helping with that program. We also offer free, Black history lessons, because, you know, Ron DeSantis doesn’t like to allow us to be taught, our children to be taught, true and accurate history here, and so we provide free Black history lessons. We also provide free, music lessons for, neighborhood residents as well, and so we are a a pretty cool place. We give away free Plan B to those that needed free condoms, and we’re excited to have a staked a claim in the Northside community, where I was born and raised at, in Jacksonville, and people love us there, and we’re gonna continue on. Would love to pop some more up across the state in the South, so that we can actually, use it to organize and build power within our communities.
Tim Dickinson
Some of the things on your platform, Medicare for All, in particular, are not supported by the, sort of, leadership of the Democratic Party. I’m imagining you’re getting to the U.S. Senate, and then what? How do you fight for these policies in a body that is sort of resistant to the change that you’re calling for?
Angie Nixon
Because I’m coming to the United States Senate with nearly 25 million people alongside me who want Medicare for All, and we are going to work to organize them to be louder and to actually put pressure on lawmakers. It doesn’t matter if you are a Republican or a Democrat, I am going to help organize the state of Florida to pressure lawmakers to do the right things that will benefit them, and so that’s how we’re gonna get things passed.
Tim Dickinson
I’m conscious of our time and that you’ve had very little sleep in the last 24 hours. The final thoughts, introductions that you want to make sure that people come away understanding about you and your candidacy?
Angie Nixon
Yeah, I just want people to know that, I am a Florida girl through and through. I love my state. I’m looking forward to, like, Mayor, Mayor Mamdani did, when he won, the New York Knicks became the NBA champions. I’m looking forward that when I become the next United States Senator, that the Jacksonville Jaguars are gonna win the NFL championship. So, that’s all I have to say. I’ve said enough, but I just want to say thank you for having me on your show. I want people to lean in and join our People Power Campaign at AngieNixon.com. Donate, sign up to volunteer, follow us on social media at Angie4FL, Angie for Florida. And let’s make history… again.
Tim Dickinson
Well, Angie, thank you so much for your time and your passion, and for joining us here on The Contrarian.
Angie Nixon
Thank you, Tim!
