Former President Barack Obama threw his support behind Jacksonville Democrat Angie Nixon on Saturday, releasing a one-minute video urging Florida voters to back her bid for U.S. Senate. The endorsement lands with just over a week left before the November 3 general election, as new polling shows the race tightening between Nixon and Republican incumbent Ashley Moody.
In the video, Obama praised Nixon's record of public service, saying, “And Angie has spent her career standing up for you,” according to Politico. He went further in his endorsement of the state representative, declaring, “That's why I believe Angie will be an outstanding U.S. Senator,” per Florida Politics. Nixon, who has represented a Jacksonville-area district in the Florida House since 2020, is running as the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Florida's 2026 general election, as reported by First Coast News.
A Jacksonville Organizer's Path to the Ballot
Nixon describes herself as a fifth-generation Jacksonville native, according to the Lakewood Ranch Beacon. Before entering politics, she worked as a union and community organizer, and she helped push for a Florida referendum that raised the state's minimum wage to $15 an hour, the same Politico report notes. She also owns Cafe Resistance, a Jacksonville bookstore and cafe that stocks titles some Florida schools have sought to remove from their libraries, per the outlet's reporting.
Nixon's campaign platform centers on working families, health care access and political accountability, according to Essence. She won her party's primary with 56.1 percent of the vote, defeating Alex Vindman, who took 43.9 percent, the same outlet reports. The financial gap between the two primary rivals was stark: Vindman had reported raising $16.7 million by mid-year, while Nixon had reported a little over $625,000, according to Essence's reporting. Her campaign says her average donation runs under $30.
Polling Shows a Narrowing Race
A University of North Florida poll taken October 12 through 19 found Moody leading Nixon 49% to 45%, with 5% undecided, the same poll noted. That margin has tightened since July, when Moody's lead stood at eight points, 50% to 42%, per the Florida Politics report, which cited a sample of 1,471 likely Florida midterm voters and a margin of error of plus or minus 2.81 percentage points. Nixon performed especially well among third-party and no-party voters, leading that group 50% to 35%, according to the same polling data.
Turnout modeling in the poll projected an electorate made up of 45% Republicans, 33% Democrats and 22% third-party and no-party voters. Florida Division of Elections figures cited in the report showed Democrats ahead by 54,371 returned mail ballots, though Republican ballots were completing the round trip more reliably, 41.3% to 38.8%. Republicans also held a narrow early-voting edge, 69,280 to 68,650, as of the same update.
National Democrats Rally Behind Nixon's Bid
Obama's video adds a high-profile name to a list of national Democrats who have stepped in for Nixon, including U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, according to Florida Politics' earlier coverage. Her listed endorsements also include U.S. Sens. Chris Murphy and Elizabeth Warren, along with several members of the U.S. House, per the Lakewood Ranch Beacon. Florida has grown more Republican since Donald Trump's political rise, and Obama remains the last Democratic presidential candidate to carry the state, Politico notes.
Moody, the Republican incumbent, has a presidential endorsement from Trump, according to First Coast News. Nixon faces Moody in the November 3 general election; reporting on the ballot's full field has varied, with some accounts naming a no-party-preference candidate in the race and others describing it as a head-to-head contest between Nixon and Moody. First Coast News reports that Nixon has said Obama's support means a great deal to her, and that her campaign is focused on building a grassroots movement for everyday Floridians facing rising costs. Her campaign has also said it aims to make health care more affordable and to protect families' rights, the outlet reports, while Nixon has opposed Republican efforts to redraw congressional maps in ways she says would deny voters a voice.
