"I am on the right side of history": Far-left woman shocks in Democratic primaries
Angie Nixon, who calls Israel's actions "genocide" and was considered a fringe candidate, defeated Jewish contender Alex Windman and won the party's nomination for Florida State Senator. In California, Aisha Wahab, against whom the pro-Israel lobby invested millions in an attempt to stop her, is on her way to victory in the special election for Congress.
A month after the October 7 massacre, Angie Nixon stood in the Florida House of Representatives and tried to convince her colleagues to support a resolution calling for an end to Israeli fighting in Gaza. Most lawmakers stood up from their seats and turned their backs on her while she spoke. Only one other legislator voted with her, and the resolution was rejected by a majority of 104 to 2. "You can turn your backs on me," Nixon lashed out at them, "I am on the right side of history because I don't want babies to die."
Less than three years later, the Democratic establishment in Florida was forced to turn back around. Nixon, a democratic socialist who for months was considered a fringe candidate, defeated Jewish contender Alex Windman in the Democratic Party primaries and won the party's nomination for the Senate. That same night, at the other end of the continent, the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC was watching a disturbing results screen of its own: in California, Aisha Wahab, the candidate it had invested millions of dollars in an attempt to stop, was on her way to victory in the special election for Congress.
Nixon didn't just win, she erased almost every advantage that was supposed to make Windman the inevitable candidate. The Jewish officer who was born in Kyiv to a family that fled the Soviet Union, immigrated to the United States as a child, served more than two decades in the army, and became a national star when he gave one of the key testimonies in the first impeachment trial of Donald Trump. He entered the race with the support of the establishment, a known name, and money in amounts almost ridiculous compared to his rival: by the end of July, he had raised about $16.3 million, compared to less than $1 million for Nixon. He spent $2.2 million on advertising, compared to only 60 thousand for her. She didn't buy a single spot on television or cable. In the end, Nixon received about 56% of the vote, compared to about 44% for Windman.
"We proved that ordinary people are stronger than corporations and billionaires," she said at the victory party in Jacksonville. "They spent 16 times more against us, and we won. They will lie and call me names, but I will meet them and we will talk."
