Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Angie Nixon joins Bernie Sanders for Brevard rally

By: Bernard S.

More than 2,000 people descended upon a field behind the Brevard County Fire Rescue Department this month to witness a fiery speech from Angie Nixon, the Florida Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate. Bernie Sanders, the longest-serving independent member of Congress in American history, embraced Nixon on stage and said she would be the next person to become a U.S. Senator.

“When she ran in the Democratic primary, nobody thought she could win. She was outspent 15-to-1, had no establishment support, no money to put ads on TV or the radio,” said Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont who is known as one of the main leaders pushing the 21st century American progressive movement.

“But what she did was extraordinary and revolutionary. What she did is develop an incredible grassroots movement of working people.”

The rally was held at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 17 in Melbourne, across the street from the Crowne Plaza Melbourne Oceanfront hotel. The event was one of four Florida rallies held as part of Sanders’ Fighting Oligarchy’ tour, which aims to have discussions on removing oligarchs from office.

Nixon, a lifelong Floridian, served as the African American Deputy Field Director for Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign. Having support from the long-serving, well-respected senator is a full-circle moment for Nixon.

“It was only 10 years ago when I was a young campaign staffer on the Bernie 2016 campaign, spreading his incredible message of ‘people over profits, the power of the middle class over corrupt politicians and their billionaire backers,’” Nixon said. “It was a fight worth fighting for then and I am proud to be in the fight together with him right now.”

Nixon pulled off one of the greatest upsets in modern political history when she garnered enough votes to win the Democratic primary election in August. Nixon, whose focus is on improving the lives of working-class people, will face incumbent Republican Ashley Moody in the Nov. 3 general election.

If elected, Nixon will become the first Democratic woman and the first Black person to represent Florida in the U.S. Senate, according to the Center for American Women and Politics.

“Some of my friends in Washington D.C. think she can’t win this election. They are wrong,” Sanders said. “Nixon will be your next senator.”

Fighting Oligarchy Rally

Attendees held up signs and wore shirts bearing the name of Nixon, who currently serves as a state representative and a union organizer.

Nixon’s campaign focuses on fighting for Florida workers and taking on billionaires. Her key priorities are guaranteeing healthcare for all Floridians, removing billionaire-funded super political action committees out of politics, taxing the ultra-rich instead of the working class, making preschool free and universal and pausing AI data center construction.

“Medicare for all means we build a system where everyone is covered, where you don’t lose your healthcare because you lost your job or you don’t stay in a job you hate because you’re afraid of losing your healthcare,” Nixon said.

“I want a healthcare system that saves families money, covers everyone and puts healthcare workers and patients ahead of insurance company profits.”

Nixon, a wife, mother of five and small business owner hailing from Duval County, said people are sick and tired of skyrocketing costs and corruption that’s raising the prices. The Democratic nominee said her opponent Moody voted for Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill,’ which she said caused 440,000 Floridians to lose their healthcare so the richest 1% could get a trillion-dollar tax break.

“People are sick and tired of politicians like lying, cheating, stealing, scamming Ashley Moody who are getting rich from the corruption while we continue to struggle to get by,” said Nixon, who previously made a campaign stop Aug. 1 in Vero Beach before the primary.

“Unlike Moody, I wasn’t appointed as a thank you for my loyalty to a corrupt system,” Nixon said of Moody, who was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in January 2025 to the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Marco Rubio. Rubio resigned to become U.S. Secretary of State for the Trump administration.

“I was elected to fight that corrupt system and that’s exactly what I’ve done in the state house,” Nixon said.

The Democratic nominee said she is familiar with the struggles of working families.

“I know what it means to work hard and struggle to pay your bills. I know what it means to look at your child and wonder how you’re going to give them everything they deserve. I know what it means to have to make choices that no working parent should have to make,” Nixon said.

“But I also know what it means to fight back…because that’s what I’ve been doing my entire life.”

Throughout her career, Nixon has expanded childcare and took on corporate price-gouging in the state house, according to her biography. She also led the fight against Florida’s controversial, mid-decade redistricting and voting map changes.

Protecting social security is also a top priority for Nixon.

“Social security is not some government handout. This is money that working people earned,” Nixon said. “After a lifetime of work, they deserve to retire in dignity.”

Nixon said she’s not running just to replace one politician with another, but to instead change who the government works for. The Democratic nominee said she believes in having a living wage, the right to organize a union and higher pay for essential workers – like teachers and nurses – amid the high costs of living in Florida.

“I believe if you work hard in this country, you should be able to live in this country. Nobody should just barely survive,” Nixon said. “You should live, thrive and flourish. You should be able to pay rent, buy groceries, put gas in your car, take your family out to dinner every now and then…and maybe put money away for a rainy day.”