The Memo: Angie Nixon’s shock Florida win gives fresh boost — and a new test — for the left

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The Hill's Headlines (PM) - August 19, 2026

The Hill's Headlines (PM) - August 19, 2026

The left of the Democratic Party scored its biggest upset of the year on Tuesday — and it did so in Florida, a state that is usually inhospitable territory for anything adjacent to socialism.

State Rep. Angie Nixon (D) beat Alexander Vindman handily in the Democrats’ U.S. Senate primary. 

Nixon, a progressive lawmaker and organizer who recently joined the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), beat Vindman by more than 12 points, despite suffering from a 16-1 fundraising disadvantage.

Nixon found success running largely on economic issues. She supports Medicare-for-All, free childcare and a significant increase in the minimum wage. Notably, those are all policies that poll strongly among Democrats at large — and, by and large. among the broader population.

Vindman had been best known as a central witness in President Trump’s first impeachment. On Wednesday, Trump gloated about Vindman’s defeat (“the most gratifying loss last night”) while also deriding Nixon’s chances in the general election.

She is, the president insisted, “a Radical Left Lunatic” who would “go down to certain defeat” in November against Sen. Ashley Moody (R-Fla.). Moody was appointed to the Senate by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) as a replacement for Marco Rubio, who left the upper chamber to become Trump’s secretary of State.

Democrats, naturally, don’t see Nixon either as a “lunatic” or as one who is doomed to defeat. But they do acknowledge that she will have an uphill climb to win the general election, even at a time when Trump’s approval ratings are bumping around close to all-time lows.

Florida, having been a key battleground for years, has become safer Republican territory. No Democrat has carried it at the presidential level since former........

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