TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — State Rep. Angie Nixon is launching a bid for the U.S. Senate, setting up another Democratic challenge to Republican Sen. Ashley Moody, Florida’s former attorney general who was appointed to the seat by Gov. Ron DeSantis and carries the endorsement of President Donald Trump.
Nixon, a Jacksonville Democrat first elected to the Florida House in 2020, formally entered the 2026 race Thursday, framing her campaign around affordability and sharply criticizing Florida and national Republican leadership. In announcing her run, Nixon said Floridians are “being crushed by an affordability crisis” driven by rising costs for housing, insurance, groceries, healthcare and childcare.
“On my state listening tour over the last several months, I heard from Republicans, Independents, and Democrats who all said the same thing: we can’t afford to go on like this,” Nixon said. “These establishment politicians, including Ashley Moody, aren’t listening to us.”
Nixon is positioning herself as a populist, working-class candidate willing to take on powerful interests and cross party lines. She pointed to her record in the Legislature, including efforts to expand access to childcare, confront corporate price-gouging, and challenge GOP leadership on issues ranging from redistricting to immigration enforcement.
In a recent interview, Nixon said her path to victory rests on building “broad coalitions of diverse communities” across Florida, including voters who do not typically align with Democrats. “It just costs too much money just to be alive,” she said. “People aren’t just working to live — they’re living just to work.”
Nixon also took aim at Moody’s appointment to the Senate, arguing voters never chose her for the job. “Floridians didn’t elect Moody to the Senate — she was handed the seat,” Nixon said. “It’s time for a senator who cares more about how you pay your bills than playing politics and taking care of billionaires.”
A fifth-generation Jacksonville native, Nixon has often leaned on her personal story, including being bused to school as a child due to under-resourced neighborhood schools and losing a cousin to gun violence. After graduating from the University of Florida in 2007, she worked as a community organizer and later served as executive director of Florida for All, a statewide voter engagement organization. She is also a mother of five and a small business owner, operating a bookstore and community hub in Jacksonville.
Nixon enters a Democratic primary that will include former Brevard County School Board member Jennifer Jenkins. Asked about the primary, Nixon praised Jenkins but said her own decade-long organizing and legislative record set her apart.
On the Republican side, Moody is running to keep the seat with the backing of Trump, who endorsed her last summer. In a statement following that endorsement, Moody said she was “honored” to have Trump’s support and pledged to advance the former president’s “America First” agenda, citing border security, tax cuts, and her past work as attorney general defending Trump against what she called “weaponized lawfare.”
The race sets up a sharp ideological contrast in a state that has trended increasingly Republican in recent federal elections. Nixon acknowledged recent Democratic losses in Florida but argued voter frustration with rising costs and political dysfunction could create an opening.
“People are fed up — not just Democrats,” Nixon said. “They want leaders who will actually fight for them rather than fight each other on TV.”
Nixon’s campaign is headquartered in Jacksonville, and she says she plans to spend the coming weeks traveling the state to meet voters as the 2026 contest begins to take shape.
Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved.