Obama Endorses Progressive Insurgent Angie Nixon For Senate In Florida

CLEARWATER, Florida — Former President Barack Obama released a one-minute video on Saturday calling on voters to support progressive state Rep. Angie Nixon to be the next senator from Florida.

“Real change starts when regular folks stand up for what's right,” Obama said. “And Angie has spent her career standing up for you.”

In the video, the former president pointed to the work Nixon had done as a union and community organizer — drawing a comparison to how he also got his start in politics in Chicago. He called attention to how she had been one of the organizers who helped push for a referendum in Florida to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, as well as her bookstore and cafe, Cafe Resistance, which contains books that some schools in Florida have sought to remove from their libraries.

Obama also raised Nixon’s fight against Florida Republicans when they redrew the state’s congressional maps. At the time, Nixon brought a hot pink bullhorn to the House floor and sat in Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office for five hours demanding to speak with him, resulting in a trespassing charge. The matter was settled with a fine and community service, and a House panel voted to reprimand her over the floor protest.
“Different issues, different moments, one leader — willing to stand up again and again for what's right,” Obama said. “That's why I believe Angie will be an outstanding U.S. senator.”

Nixon said the endorsement “means so much to me” and provided her momentum. Around the same time the video was being released, Nixon was gearing up to vote early in her hometown of Jacksonville, walking from Cafe Resistance to the polls and followed by around 1,000 supporters, her campaign said.

Obama was the last Democratic presidential candidate to win Florida, both in his 2008 election and his reelection, when the Sunshine State was considered the largest swing state in the U.S. Much has changed since. There are now 1.5 million more Republicans registered in the state than Democrats, and President Donald Trump won the state by increasing margins the three times he ran.

If elected, Nixon would be the first Black senator from Florida. Some polls show the gap in the race for Senate in the single digits amid ongoing frustrations with high prices and the war in Iran. Yet even some Democrats remain skeptical about Nixon, who joined the Democratic Socialists of America in June. Nixon has repeatedly discussed where she disagrees with the group’s platform, and since launching her campaign in January has stressed that she doesn't like labels in politics.

Trump was in Fort Myers, Florida, on Friday speaking to a crowd of about 3,500 people in support of Republicans, including Nixon rival Sen. Ashley Moody, who was appointed to the seat to replace Marco Rubio when he became secretary of State. In his speech, Trump said he was shocked that Nixon had won her primary against retired Lt. Col. Alex Vindman, who had been the whistleblower behind the president’s first impeachment trial in 2019.

Obama on Friday evening also endorsed Democratic candidate for governor David Jolly, a former member of the U.S. House who used to be a Republican. Jolly is running against Trump-endorsed GOP Rep. Byron Donalds, who would be Florida's first Black governor if elected.

In the video, first provided to MS NOW, the former president praised Jolly as being “independent-minded,” saying he “has a long record of taking up corruption.”

“I know he is tough enough to stand up against powerful special interests that make your life harder,” Obama said. “Elections are about who will fight for you, and in this election it’s David Jolly.”

Gary Fineout contributed to this report.