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Bernie Sanders, Chris Murphy, and Ro Khanna are coming to Florida to campaign with Angie Nixon

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Bernie Sanders, Chris Murphy, and Ro Khanna are coming to Florida to campaign with Angie Nixon

Oct 12, 2026 | 5:26 pm ET
By Mitch Perry
Bernie Sanders, Chris Murphy, and Ro Khanna are coming to Florida to campaign with Angie Nixon
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Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent, with advocates at a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol on raising the minimum wage, on May 4, 2023. (Photo by Ariana Figueroa/States Newsroom)

Bernie Sanders will take his Fighting Oligarchy Tour to the Sunshine State next weekend, when he will hold four campaign events with Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Angie Nixon across Central and North Florida.

The Vermont independent senator, one of the leaders of the progressive movement in the United States, endorsed Nixon in her contest against Republican Sen. Ashley Moody last month and has donated $250,000 from his political committee to her campaign.

Nixon, a Jacksonville state representative, in August defeated Alex Vindman in the Democratic primary, despite being massively out-fundraised.  She faces similar fundraising challenges against Moody.

The RealClearPolling average of the Florida Senate race shows Moody up by roughly seven points over Nixon, 49%-42%.

Sanders is not the only Washington Democrat making a trip to Florida to campaign with Nixon.

Connecticut U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy and California Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna, both of whom are considering runs for the Democratic nomination for president in 2028, also intend to hit the campaign trail with Nixon in Orlando.

Murphy will campaign with Nixon on Oct. 14 and Khanna will campaign with her on Oct. 20.

“I do believe that we’d make a big mistake if we slept on Florida,” Murphy told Politico last week, adding that he intends to push to raise some “serious money” for Nixon’s campaign. “I know it feels like a longer shot, but I just think this year is looking exceptional.”

Sanders’ itinerary in Florida includes stops in Tampa and Melbourne on Saturday, Oct. 17, and Gainesville and Tallahassee on Sunday, Oct. 18. It notably does not include any stops in South Florida, where Sanders’ comments praising Fidel Castro in 2020 received a strong backlash from some South Florida Democrats.

The Tampa Sanders/Nixon event will be held at the Cuban Club, which angered Dan Weldon, a Republican running for the House District 64 in Hillsborough County. He said it was “beyond disgusting that the Cuban Club in Tampa is hosting socialists Bernie Sanders & Angie Nixon.”

“The Cuban Club was founded for the benefit of Cuban-Americans,” he said in a Facebook post. “Tampa has one of the largest Cuban refugee populations in the country — people who lost everything due to socialism. Shame on the Cuban Club for allowing this.”

Punchbowl News reported Monday that Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeen Jeffries “hinted” in an interview that he might head to Florida before Election Day.

Moody will draw some Washington-based support later this week, as well. Senate Majority Leader John Thune will campaign with the Florida Republican sometime this week, Punchbowl News reported. No date or location was listed.