Both parties are making a final push of campaigning for the U.S. Senate candidates and other offices ahead of Election Day Tuesday.
The final campaign trail led through Central Florida for both Republicans and Democrats. Senate candidate and Democratic state Rep. Angie Nixon held a rally in Kissimmee on Tuesday with Puerto Rican leaders, while President Trump held a rally in Daytona Beach Friday for Republican Sen. Ashley Moody and other federal and state Republican candidates.
Moody was appointed as one of Florida’s U.S. Senators last year, when President Trump tapped then-Sen. Marco Rubio to be his secretary of state. Before that, Floridians elected her as attorney general in 2018 and reelected her in 2022.
Democrat Angie Nixon has been representing Jacksonville in the Florida House of Representatives since 2020. In June, Nixon registered as a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, though the group has not endorsed her.
A pitch to younger voters
Nixon has been working to energize younger voters this year.
She campaigned with Senator Bernie Sanders earlier this month. And at a “Boricuas for Nixon” rally in Kissimmee on Tuesday, she was joined by New York Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Nydia Velázquez and Orlando Rep. Maxwell Frost.
Florida Republicans have seized on Nixon’s association with the Democratic Socialists of America in their campaigning, casting her as a “radical” and a “communist.”
Ocasio-Cortez rejected those labels when introducing Nixon.
“These folks like to say that everything that they don't like is communism, and they like to call everyone that they disagree with a communist,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “But we've got news for you: Good schools is not communism. Funded hospitals is not communism. And guaranteeing healthcare as a right to every American is not communism. It's common sense.”
Nixon, in turn, repeatedly wielded those labels to energize the room.
“If believing that no family should go bankrupt because somebody got sick is radical, then what should they call me?” Nixon asked.
The crowd roared back: “RADICAL!!!”
37-year old Melissa Moore has been volunteering with Nixon’s campaign this year. She thinks Nixon’s focus on younger voters is paying off.
“I think some of the younger voters are really excited. They were very excited for the Bernie votes too, and you know I feel like they got disheartened for a little bit. But we’re back. We want change.”
A Pew Research Center poll this month has Democrats 17 percentage points more likely to say they’re “extremely motivated” to vote this year.
The President rallies Republicans in Daytona Beach
The Republican party made its own final effort to push its candidates, including Moody, with a visit from President Trump at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach on Friday.
Attendee Nicole Rio also sees younger voters as crucial to victory this year.
“We're trying to get people to vote,” Rio said. “It's no longer red or blue. This right now is common sense versus communism. We have no choice now. But we need the younger generation to come out.”
Even though he’s too young to vote, 16-year-old Colton Peacock was confident that Republicans would prevail in Florida’s elections next week.
“We will win by a landslide,” he said. “Let's be real here: Florida is a solid red state. … We’re not a swing state like some of these other states up north.”
Peacock and his parents drove 15 minutes to attend the rally. The president was the big appeal.
“I don't know who's going to be here,” he said. “I'm kind of excited for everyone… mostly for Trump, but to see Moody and all these Florida people that are coming out here.”
And the speaking list was an exhaustive rundown of Florida’s Republican party: Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, Attorney General James Uthmeier, gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds, Rep. Randy Fine, U.S. Sen. Rick Scott and Republican Party of Florida Chair Evan Power.
A line wound through the parking lot at the Ocean Center ahead of the rally. Some attendees had been in line since 8 a.m. to get a good spot.
Democrats held a counter-protest in Daytona Beach a few hours before doors opened. Later in the evening, hecklers interrupted Trump on three separate occasions during his remarks.
Moody spent most of her remarks bashing her challenger in the Senate race. She called Nixon“an actual communist” whose “crazy agenda … sounds like an enemy's wish list, 'cause it is.”
Moody referenced her own policies only in passing. She mentioned ending federal taxes on tips and overtime and slashing federal income taxes when she voted in favor of Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act last year. And she alluded to Florida’s legal challenges to federal lockdown guidance during the pandemic while she was the attorney general.
“Get your friends out to vote,” Moody said. “This is no joke. This is the most important election in Florida's history.”
A thorny predicament
Friday’s rally gets at heart of the predicament facing Republicans around the country this year. As national enthusiasm for Republicans continues to slide in opinion polls, Trump has been urging voters to vote like he’s on the ballot, since election turnout is generally higher in presidential election years than midterm years.
Most of the attendees on Friday were avowed Trump fans. Rio attended the Daytona Beach rally from Palm Coast with her husband to thank Trump for ending taxes on tips and overtime under last year’s Big Beautiful Bill Act.
And Blake Marnell, wearing a bespoke suit with a brick wall design in support of Trump’s immigration policies, flew out to the rally from San Diego because he’s “traveling all across America to be at as many Trump rallies as I can, just to remind people to vote.”
But Trump is also deeply unpopular, especially with independent voters who will play a pivotal role in this year’s midterms, whether by their action or inaction.
In recent opinion polling, Trump’s approval rating is about 37%.
Florida voted for Trump by a double-digit margin just two years ago. Now, Republicans face tight or tied statewide races.
In the Senate race, recent polls show Moody with a slight advantage of a few percentage points, though her own campaign fundraising materials have referenced two showing the two candidates tied.
Early voting is open across Florida through Sunday. For more information on early voting times and locations, check your local county supervisor of elections’ office. Election Day is Tuesday.
