Angie Nixon Hints at Another Senate Run in 2028, After Being Heavily Outspent

Democratic candidate Angie Nixon has suggested she could run again in 2028 after being narrowly defeated in her race for U.S. Senate in Florida on Tuesday, falling to Republican opponent Ashley Moody by roughly 3 points after being massively outspent in the race written off by the Democratic establishment.

Moody received 50.9 percent of the vote to Nixon’s 48 percent, still overcoming a 10-point swing toward Democrats compared to 2024. Nixon got roughly the same proportion of the vote as Florida governor candidate David Jolly, a former Republican member of the House who left that party in 2018 and registered as a Democrat last year.

The race was a special election to fill the Senate seat left vacant by Marco Rubio, who won the seat in 2022 but left to become Secretary of State. Moody was chosen by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis as a temporary replacement, and has now been officially elected to serve the rest of the term.

This means that the seat will be up for grabs again in 2028 — and Nixon, who has already defied the odds in her race, has left the door open for another run.

In her concession speech on Tuesday, Nixon struck a positive tone despite the loss, touting the movement built by her campaign. “When we started this campaign, people told us it could not be done,” she said. “They told us we couldn’t compete with the political establishment.”

“I need y’all to stay in this fight. The war is not over. 2028 is around the corner. So Ashley Moody, you better get it right. Cause we’re coming for you,” Nixon said. Let’s go win y’all.”

Indeed, it is extraordinary that a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) could come so close to a win in the red state. Though Nixon has rejected the socialist label, the DSA has been relentlessly vilified by conservatives and liberals alike, and Nixon has embraced left-wing stances like rejecting assistance to Israel and supporting Medicare for All.

Nixon’s primary race was already historic. She won despite being outspent by roughly 13 to 1, and raised just under $1 million compared to $16 million raised by opponent Alex Vindman, a former national security official in Donald Trump’s first administration.

The Democratic establishment, however, seemingly wrote off her race — or potentially actively opposed her bid. Neither the Senate Majority PAC nor the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) spent any money supporting Nixon’s race, The American Prospect points out.

According to AdImpact data, Republicans spent $28.7 million on TV ads supporting Moody, while Democrats only spent $7.9 million. Nixon’s campaign says that support and fundraising from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) was an enormous help.

“Bernie’s impact on our campaign was immeasurable. He was one of our most important partners, by far,” said Kevin Lata, Nixon’s deputy campaign manager, on X on Tuesday evening. “I can almost guarantee that the democrats who are blaming Bernie did very little themselves to help, and should instead be looking inward, not at him.”

Some politicians chalked the lack of support from the main arms of the Democratic Party as racism as well as pro-centrist bias. Last month, Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Massachusetts) called out the DSCC for this disparity.

“It is shameful that we are not seeing an equitable investment in progressive and diverse candidates like Abdul El-Sayed, like Angie Nixon, like Scott Colom,” said Pressley. Nixon and Colom, whose Senate race in Mississippi is too close to call as of Wednesday afternoon, are Black, while progressive Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed is Arab American.

“They have earned and need the investment so that we can have a majority,” Pressley said, as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) nodded beside her.

Nixon added on Wednesday, after sweeping Democratic wins even across traditionally red states in the South, that Democrats must not write off the region.

“Invest In The South,” Nixon wrote.