(AFP) – The left wing of the Democratic Party on Wednesday celebrated its latest stunning upset with a US Senate primary win in Florida, extending its insurgent streak into President Donald Trump’s home state as voters rejected several of his preferred Republican candidates in other primaries. State lawmaker Angie Nixon defeated heavily favored former national security official Alexander Vindman for the nomination to challenge for the Republican-held seat in November.
The result was one of the biggest surprises of the primary season, with Nixon overcoming a vast fundraising disadvantage against Vindman, who became a national figure after testifying against Trump during his first impeachment proceedings. Nixon is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and was backed by prominent left-wing lawmakers, though the national organization did not formally endorse her.
“Look, we can argue all day about people’s labels, but at the end of the day, I care about the needs of people,” Nixon told NBC News during the campaign, describing her politics as “people-centered.” Her victory revived momentum for the Democratic left wing after it narrowly lost a closely watched Wisconsin gubernatorial primary last week. But it could also make an already difficult Florida Senate race much tougher for Democrats. The once-pivotal swing state has shifted sharply Republican in recent years, and election analysts immediately downgraded Democratic chances of flipping the seat.
Vindman quickly endorsed Nixon, and some strategists even suggested his defeat was a boon for mainstream Democrats, who would now avoid throwing millions of dollars at a race many believe they would likely have lost anyway.
Mainstream Democrats had better results elsewhere in Florida. Congressman Jared Moskowitz easily defeated a democratic socialist challenger in a newly redrawn district that Republicans hope to capture in November, and his House colleague Debbie Wasserman Schultz survived a crowded primary in a heavily Democratic seat. She had faced criticism from party activists over her decision to move into the predominantly Black district after a new Republican electoral map made her old base less favorable.
Those victories offered a counterweight to Nixon’s triumph, underscoring the mixed verdict Democratic voters have delivered this year as the party debates whether a confrontational left-wing message or a centrist approach offers the best route back to power.
Republicans had an unsettled night of their own. Trump-backed congressman Cory Mills lost his Florida primary after months of controversy and a House Ethics Committee investigation involving allegations of campaign finance violations and sexual misconduct. Mills denies wrongdoing and has not been charged with a crime. Another Trump-endorsed candidate lost the Republican primary for a southwest Florida House seat, and in Wyoming, the president’s preferred candidate for governor was seen off by a state senator.
The defeats added to a growing list of failed Trump endorsements in Republican primaries this year, though his backing has been decisive in other races. Byron Donalds easily won Florida’s Republican nomination for governor and will face former Republican congressman David Jolly, now a Democrat, in November. In Alaska, meanwhile, a former Democratic congresswoman and a Republican senator advanced from the state’s unusual all-party Senate primary, setting up one of the more competitive contests of the fall.
– Frankie TAGGART
© 2024 AFP
