Charles Schumer

Angie Nixon’s account of asking Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for campaign help and receiving a noncommittal response is fueling criticism after her narrow Florida Senate loss, with critics questioning whether Democratic leaders failed to fully support the Black progressive.

Nixon described the conversation before the election. She told MS NOW that the Senate Democratic leader offered no firm commitment when she asked for help funding her race.

“When I did speak with Sen. Schumer on the phone, it was basically a ‘we will see,’” Nixon said during an appearance on “Clock It with Symone & Eugene.” “He’s going to look into it. That’s what was said, that he’s going to look into it.”

Asked whether national Democrats were doing enough, she gave a blunt assessment: “They could do a lot more.”

Nixon ultimately lost to Republican Sen. Ashley Moody by roughly three percentage points. Her performance far outpaced Democrats’ previous two Senate campaigns in Florida. It raised questions about whether stronger support could have helped close the gap.

Social media criticism links the party’s hesitation to Nixon’s support for Palestinian rights and opposition to aid for Israel. The commentary accuses Schumer of leaving her without the help she needed.

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“This is basically the indictment that disqualifies Schumer from the majority leader position,” one critic wrote. “He has got to go!!! Shame on them! Ethics committee needs to investigate them both [Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries] for accepting foreign money for their campaign, which is illegal by the way!” another person added.

The backlash comes as Schumer faces calls for new leadership from several incoming Democratic senators and activists critical of AIPAC’s influence. But those challenges reflect broader frustrations with the party’s direction.

Still, available reporting does not establish that her position on Israel drove his decisions. It also shows Schumer provided some support after the conversation Nixon described.

Punchbowl News reported Oct. 20 that Schumer was hosting a virtual fundraiser for Nixon. He had also contributed through his political action committee, met with her in Washington, and spoken with her ahead of the event.

That reporting undercuts claims that he never offered any help. It leaves unresolved whether the support matched the opportunity Nixon and her supporters believed existed. Moody outraised Nixon by around $3.2 million more, according to the most recent available figures.

Nixon offered her own explanations for the party’s reluctance during the MS NOW interview. She first pointed to her politics.

“I am a progressive Democrat, and I am very vocal about putting working-class families first. I am very vocal about progressive values,” she said. “So I think that may be the main issue.”

She also suggested that former Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential defeat had made party leaders and donors more hesitant to back Black women.

“Folks are a little gun-shy because, unfortunately, Vice President [Kamala] Harris lost as a Black woman, and so people are being very hesitant in terms of funding Black women, especially in the South.”

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee pushed back on Nixon’s criticism.

“We are excited about opportunities to expand the map further and monitor all races closely, including Florida, where Angie Nixon is running an energetic campaign,” a spokesperson told MS NOW.

At the time, the committee had established a joint fundraising committee with Nixon’s campaign, and she had attended a fundraiser. The DSCC did not donate any money to Nixon’s campaign, according to The American Prospect.

A senior Democratic aide also disputed the suggestion that leaders were withholding support because Nixon was progressive. The aide pointed to investments in Michigan, where progressive Abdul El-Sayed was the Democratic Senate nominee.

The aide said improving Democratic prospects had expanded the number of races the party could contest, forcing difficult spending decisions with limited resources. Florida presented an expensive challenge in a state Republicans had increasingly dominated.

Nixon’s result nevertheless challenged expectations about how competitive a Democrat could be there.

Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell lost her Florida Senate race by 13 points in 2024. Two years earlier, Val Demings lost by 16 points, WLRN reported. Nixon’s roughly three-point defeat marked a substantial improvement, though it does not establish that additional funding would have delivered a victory.

She had already made her differences with party leaders over Gaza clear. In 2023, Nixon introduced a Florida House ceasefire resolution that drew criticism within her own party, according to New York magazine.

Following her defeat, Nixon announced the Never Scared PAC to develop leaders and organize working people across Florida.

“We were never scared to take on the political establishment,” she said to WLRN, “and we’re not scared of the work ahead.”

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