Florida showed just how weak the Democratic establishment is | Opinion

Watching the Democratic Party and the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) right now is like watching a scene from "Alien vs. Predator": The winner changes, but both are villains. Which one seems worse depends on your worldview.

That's becoming even truer after Florida's Aug. 18 election, where DSA member and state Rep. Angie Nixon defeated the well-known, well-funded establishment favorite, Alex Vindman, in the Democratic U.S. Senate primary to advance to the general election.

DSA candidates aren't winning every race – two also lost in Florida. But they've now won more than 35 primary elections nationwide, flipping seats long held by establishment Democrats. A DSA candidate winning a Democratic primary in a state that's become a Republican juggernaut sends a jarring message about the growing strength of the socialist left and the weakness of the Democratic Party.

As a Republican watching from the outside, I have to wonder: What are Floridians thinking?

DSA candidate's win is a major upset in Florida

A DSA candidate winning a primary race in Florida shows the party's platform appeals to some voters – and can even beat the most prepared, best-funded candidate.

Nixon won handily, with 56% of the vote, despite Vindman's name recognition and fundraising edge. The retired Army lieutenant colonel, who testified during President Donald Trump's first impeachment in 2019, raised more than $16 million; she raised about $1 million. Winning any race with a 16-to-1 fundraising gap is a feat. Doing it on a far-left platform in a red state is another thing entirely.

Nixon had the support of prominent progressives like Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, but it seems her priorities, likability and ground game are what actually won over voters.

Vindman, for all his fundraising success, never seemed likable – not to me, and apparently not to Florida Democrats, either.

In her victory speech, Nixon spoke directly to the problems facing everyday Americans: "We know workers deserve a living wage. We know health care is a human right. We know housing is a fundamental need. We know public education is sacred."

Her platform reads like a checklist of progressive platitudes tied to the burgeoning American socialist movement, including universal health care, higher taxes on the wealthy and a federal minimum wage of $25 an hour.

I get why an anti-corporate, pro-affordability message sounds like relief to Americans anxious about the cost of living. But her solutions are misguided and dangerous.

Socialism is a problem. So is its appeal.

Nixon's win underscores a partisan shift in how Americans view socialism and capitalism. A 2025 Gallup poll found that Americans' positive view of capitalism has fallen to just 54%, down from 60% just five years ago.

Unsurprisingly, 66% of Democrats view socialism positively, compared with just 14% of Republicans.

But when asked to name something good about socialism, 30% of Americans said "nothing" while 26% pointed to basic services and safety nets.

Nixon leaned into advocating for both, even though the concepts have failed elsewhere. Our health care system is a problem, and insurance is a nightmare, but universal health care isn't the solution. Scandinavian countries offer universal health care, but at the cost of long wait times and a monstrous tax rate. Denmark's tax-to-gross domestic product ratio was 45.2% in 2024. Floridians pay no state income tax, and the average American's tax-to-GDP ratio is just 25.6%.

Raising Florida's minimum wage to $25 would hurt consumers and local businesses alike. It already happened in California, where the legislature in 2023 raised the minimum wage to $20 an hour for fast-food workers at some chains. The Cato Institute found that the increased labor costs were simply passed through to consumers, "and the resulting decline in demand reduced employment."

Do Democrats not know how badly socialist policies can fail, or do they just not care?

Either way, DSA stances are bold, appealing to struggling and wealthy Americans alike, for different reasons. One is that the Democratic Party has failed to offer a strong, viable alternative. An August CBS News/YouGov poll found that "over a third of Democrats describe their own party as weak," and that they "mainly say the party is not as progressive as they would want it to be."

Guess who is?

Nixon won because the Democratic Party is lost, and voters are falling for the stronger, warm-and-fuzzy socialist faction, even if its ideas are nonsense in practice. As the battle between Democrats and the DSA intensifies, Floridians could soon find themselves choosing not between the lesser of two evils, but between two different versions of the same villain.

Nicole Russell is an opinion columnist with USA TODAY. She lives in Texas with her four kids. Sign up for her newsletter, The Right Track, and get it delivered to your inbox.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Florida showed just how weak the Democratic establishment is | Opinion

Reporting by Nicole Russell, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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