DSA win in Florida Senate primary is latest blow to Democratic Party establishment
Alex Vindman, a key witness in President Donald Trump’s first impeachment, spent nearly 13 times that of his nearest rival in the Democratic senatorial primary in Florida — and lost.
State Rep. Angie Nixon, backed by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), won the party’s nomination Tuesday night on a message of universal healthcare, free childcare and higher taxes on the rich. She also focused her campaign on resentment of the ultra-wealthy, referring to “greedy billionaires,” “corrupt billionaires” and the “corporations rigging our economy.” Vindman, for his part, did much less of that.
It’s the latest setback for the Democratic Party establishment, whose preferred candidate trailed and was narrowly defeated in Michigan’s Senate primary. And in Wisconsin’s gubernatorial primary, the party establishment’s preferred candidate made a last-minute rally and narrowly upset the progressive who, according to several public polls, led the field going into Election Day.
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In Florida, there was not much public polling. As The New York Times noted, the only public poll in the race had been retracted after the firm that published it, Change Research, said it “identified an error” in it.
In absence of polling, name recognition and fundraising took on even more significance. Vindman entered the race as a nationally recognized figure. He served on the National Security Council in Trump’s first term and became a key witness in Trump’s impeachment for reportedly strong-arming President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate a Trump rival in exchange for military aid. Video of Vindman testifying in Congress is featured prominently on his campaign website.
Vindman appeared to be the preferred candidate of Democratic Party leaders in Washington who have viewed DSA candidates as vulnerable to Republican attacks in a general election.
All that helped him quickly raise a sizable amount of money, which he freely spent to win the nomination. In February, for example, Vindman’s campaign paid a Chicago-based firm $850,000 for digital advertising. By comparison, Nixon’s entire campaign spending by the end of last month was a little more than $700,000.
Nixon, who spent three years in the legislature, had support from a bevy of local activists in the state, as well as from nationally recognized progressives, including Reps. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Rashida Talib, D-Mich., Ayana Pressley, D-Mass., and children’s television personality Ms. Rachel.
Nixon will face Trump-backed Republican Ashley Moody, who served as the state’s attorney general, in the general election. Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Moody to the Senate after Marco Rubio vacated the seat to join the Trump administration.
Though strong campaign organizing and message discipline helped fuel an underdog victory in the Democratic primary, the general election, for now, still favors Republicans. The GOP holds every major statewide office. Also: around 1.2 million Democrats voted in the Democratic primary; 1.6 million turned out for the Republican primary, with Moody getting more than 1.3 million votes.
Nixon’s victory did not translate to success further down the ballot for another DSA candidate in Florida on Tuesday. Rep. Jared Moskowitz, who is an outspoken supporter of Israel and has accepted support from the American-Israel Political Action Committee, easily defeated his modestly funded primary challenger in the newly redrawn 25th district, DSA member Oliver Larkin. Moskowitz outspent Larkin nearly 3-to-1 and got more than 63% of the vote before the news outlets called the race.