Mother Jones
· collected 2026-08-31 · by Laura C. Morel
In televised interviews and social media posts since the state’s primary elections last week, GOP members have continued to erase distinctions between the Democratic party to the Democratic Socialists of America.
asserted
members → televise → America
Florida Republicans have used it for years.
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Republicans → use → years
But the 2026 midterms are bringing it to new heights as the GOP capitalizes on Angie Nixon’s unexpected Democratic nomination for Senate.
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GOP → bring → Senate
Nixon, a state representative and former union organizer, became a member of the Democratic Socialists of America earlier this year, though DSA did not endorse her and Nixon has rejected the term in recent interviews.
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Nixon → become → interviews
“I don’t believe in labels,” she told Axios.
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she → believe → Axios
“The socialism attack has been around for ages and ages in Florida, and this year it’s going to take on a different shape because we have a candidate at the top of the ticket who genuinely has affiliated themselves with the socialist movement in this country,” said Michael Worley, a Florida political consultant who has worked on several recent Democratic campaigns.
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who → go → campaigns
“That adds fuel to this attack in a way that we’ve never seen before in Florida.
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we → add → Florida
The Florida GOP has wasted little time proving Worley right, sending press releases following Nixon’s win with subject lines like “Socialism Is on the Florida Ballot This November.”
“Make no mistake: the stakes are bigger than any one election.
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stakes → waste → election
Socialists believe government is the solution and individual freedom is the obstacle to progress,” said Evan Power, Florida GOP chairman, in the statement.
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Power → believe → statement
Even the most moderate of Democrats are being targeted by this narrative.
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moderate → target → narrative
At a rally in Tampa I attended last week, Republican gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds called David Jolly, his Democratic opponent, a “Trojan horse” for the DSA.
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Donalds → attend → DSA
Jolly is a former Republican member of Congress who left the party during Trump’s first term, became an independent, and registered as a Democrat last year before running for governor.
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who → leave → governor
“You’re telling me that a former Republican congressman and Republican lobbyist is now a socialist?” said Jacob Perry, a political consultant who has worked on Republican, Democratic, and nonpartisan campaigns.
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who → tell → campaigns
“I don’t know how that has any meaning any longer.
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that → know → meaning
It’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”
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I → ’ → ?
In a phone interview, Power justified the label by labeling some of Jolly’s ideas—such as a state-run hurricane insurance fund – as socialist policies.
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Power → justify → policies
“I categorically reject that he’s a moderate,” Power told me.
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Power → reject → me
Democrats, he said, “are radical leftists who are hiding under this moderate agenda.”
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who → say → agenda
Last week, Rep. Jared Moskowitz, a Democrat who represents parts of Broward and Palm Beach counties, defeated a DSA-endorsed candidate who ran for his seat.
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who → represent → seat
And yet, in an interview with Fox Business, his Republican opponent, Scott Singer, drew connections between Moskowitz, a centrist, and Nixon.
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opponent → draw → Moskowitz
“Nixon-Moskowitz,” he said.
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he → say → ?
“That’s the federal ticket.”
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That → ’ → ?
That messaging may work for some of the many Cuban and Venezuelan voters in Florida who fled communism in their home countries—but they were likely already voting for the Republican ticket (In 2024, nearly 70 percent of Cuban Americans in Florida supported Trump).
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percent → work → Trump
For others, including the 25 percent of independent voters registered in Florida, it carries less weight.
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it → include → weight
Everyone is anti-American, and my sense is that that is not going to be as effective this year,” said Eduardo Gamarra, a political science professor and director of the Latino Public Opinion Forum at Florida International University.
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Gamarra → go → University
The current affordability crisis—housing, groceries, rising insurance costs, and gas at $4 a gallon—will also push Floridians to look beyond labels, Worley, the political consultant, told me.
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Worley → rise → me
Nixon is running on a platform that calls for Medicare For All, universal child care, and affordable housing.
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that → run → All
“There is nothing ‘radical’ about fighting for a living wage, capping skyrocketing rents, or ensuring every Floridian gets the healthcare they need,” Nixon said in a statement.
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Nixon → be → statement
“You can point out the absurdity of your opponent’s arguments by just completely ignoring them,” Perry told me, pointing to Jolly’s campaign, which has focused on embracing supporters from all political affiliations.
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which → point → affiliations
Donalds’ campaign, he added, has heavily catered to the Republican base.
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he → add → base
But in a state where Republicans outnumber Democrats by 1.5 million registered voters, that could be enough to secure the governorship.
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that → outnumber → governorship
Following his primary win, Jolly went on national TV and refuted claims of ties to the DSA.
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Jolly → follow → DSA
He has been making campaign stops in Miami, now one of the most expensive cities in the US, as well as Pensacola, where many Floridians are strongly opposed to data centers; Jolly is calling for a moratorium on them.
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Jolly → make → them
The socialism narrative “will impact some voters,” Jolly told me on a phone call this week.
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Jolly → impact → call
“We learned from Trump, if you scream something a thousand times, it sadly saturates.
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it → learn → something
But it’s not working with the same currency it has in past cycles.”
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it → work → cycles
Some candidates, such as Eliott Rodriguez, a former news anchor and Democrat running for Congressional District 27 in South Florida, have decided to flip the script.
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candidates → run → script
On Aug. 12, he posted a video to his Facebook page, accusing Trump of “acting like an authoritarian, and, yes, a communist,” pointing to reports that the US government, under Trump, now owns stakes in 30 companies.
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government → post → companies
Rodriguez, the son of Cuban immigrants, called the GOP’s socialism framing a “ridiculous” talking point.
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Rodriguez → call → framing
“It’s time that we Cuban-American Democrats defend ourselves and explain that this is a lie that has been spread by Republicans for way too long,” he said.
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he → ’ → Republicans
…and 11 more, not listed.
