From TikTok to Door Knock: Angie Nixon's Final Push for Florida Voters

ORLANDO, Fla. — Pink and white filled the room at Shiloh Baptist Church Life Center as children wearing Angie Nixon T-shirts stood alongside older supporters holding campaign signs during Friday night’s rally.

With Election Day just days away, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Angie Nixon took the podium to emphasize the importance of grassroots organizing.

“Organized people will beat big money each and every day of the week,” Nixon told the crowd gathered to hear her speak on Oct. 30.

Wearing a pink shirt beneath a tan blazer, Nixon raised her arm from behind the podium as supporters held up their phones to record her speech.

“They want us arguing because division is profitable for them,” Nixon said, arguing that the fight was not about Republicans, Democrats or members of the Democratic Socialists of America, but about wealthy interests she accused of trying to wipe out the middle class.

Indeed, Nixon swept to victory in August to clinch the Democratic nomination, defeating a much better-funded challenger on an extremely small budget. Her dynamic grass-roots campaign has gained national attention online as she challenges Republican incumbent Sen. Ashley Moody in the Nov. 3 election. If successful, she would be the first Black senator from Florida.

An Oct. 15 analysis by The Wall Street Journal found that approximately 70% of TikTok videos mentioning Nixon portrayed her favorably, the highest share among 26 Democrats featured in the study. Much of that attention came from creators responding to racist attacks against her rather than discussing her policies.

But supporters interviewed at Nixon’s Orlando campaign events described a different path to political involvement: campus outreach, personal relationships and concerns about the cost of living.

During an earlier meet-and-greet outside Washington Shores Seafood, a small takeout fish restaurant in Orlando, Nixon discussed her growing popularity on TikTok in an interview with CommunityWire.

Asked whether that online attention was translating into voter outreach, Nixon pointed to her nearly two decades of community organizing.

“I've actually been a community organizer for nearly two decades,” Nixon said.

She explained that she had been using social media, including TikTok, to educate people about legislation and its potential impact on their lives long before her Senate campaign gained national attention.

At Friday night's rally at Shiloh Baptist Church Life Center, Florida State Rep. RaShon Young, 27, joined other elected officials in supporting Nixon's Senate campaign.

In an interview with CommunityWire, Young described his own social media environment as an “echo chamber,” explaining that he is often surrounded by people who already support his work, making it difficult to gauge opinions outside that audience.

Young also discussed how candidates like Nixon can connect with younger voters, emphasizing the importance of addressing their concerns rather than relying on party affiliation.

“We don't care about the party as much as we do the issue,” Young said.

For University of Central Florida student Erin Wilkes, one of those issues is housing affordability. Wilkes, originally from Jacksonville, said she discovered Nixon at a campus event rather than through TikTok. She plans to vote for Nixon because of her positions on housing, wages and protecting food assistance benefits.

“I want to be able to buy a house before I'm 40, ideally,” Wilkes said.

During their interview, Nixon discussed her proposal for a national rent freeze and eviction moratorium lasting up to two years. She said the measures would give struggling households time to save money and avoid homelessness.

Implementing the proposal would require federal action, and Nixon said she would work to build support among lawmakers to pass it.

Jennifer Soos, an Orange County educator who works with students with special needs, started following and then supporting Nixon upon a friend's recommendation about a year ago. Since then, she has volunteered through phone banking and door knocking, although Friday’s rally was her first opportunity to see the candidate in person.

Her political involvement reflects a broader personal shift. Raised in a conservative household, Soos voted for Donald Trump in 2016 but later grew dissatisfied with the Republican party. She changed her affiliation approximately six years ago, before learning about Nixon.

Now, inflation and rising household expenses are among her biggest concerns.

Alongside affordability, Nixon used Friday’s rally to criticize Moody over the Hope Florida controversy involving $10 million connected to a Medicaid settlement.

Hope Florida promised to move people off government assistance and into services provided by charities and religious organizations, but a state grand jury found $10 million from a healthcare settlement was “misappropriated” to the foundation and diverted further to Republican political entities.

A PolitiFact investigation published last week found that much of the money ultimately reached political committees tied to Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Nixon has accused Moody of stealing the money, but that allegation has not been substantiated. A judge appointed by DeSantis also ruled that the leaked grand jury report implicating Moody and Casey DeSantis should be expunged.

Moody has denied wrongdoing, and no criminal charges have been filed. But the issue has continued to overshadow her campaign, and state Republicans were so concerned about it that they sought to sue the Florida Democrats and television stations running an ad about it. They have since dropped the suit amid First Amendment concerns.

Nixon, for her part, faces other challenges in the campaign. Some Democrats are uncomfortable with her affiliation with the DSA (Democratic Socialists of America), which she joined in June, and Nixon faced controversy in the past month over whether she considers Cuba to be a dictatorship. Her opposition to U.S. military aid to Israel has also raised concerns among some Jewish voters in Florida, although others have expressed support for her.

Speakers at the Orlando campaign event, including Young, U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost and former U.S. Rep. Val Demings, urged attendees to continue organizing ahead of the election.

The rally highlighted a hurdle for Nixon's campaign: favorable online attention does not necessarily reflect broad support across Florida’s electorate. The state has about 1.5 more registered Republicans than Democrats, and recent polls show Nixon at least four points behind Moody.

“Call people, literally text them, but also call them and make sure that they get out to vote,” Nixon said during her Washington Shores appearance.

Nixon challenged supporters to consider their role in the election’s final days.

“You all need to decide,” she told the crowd, “what you want your legacy to be in this moment.”

This story is part of a statewide partnership of more than 30 nonpartisan newsrooms and universities working to help Florida voters make informed decisions in the 2026 elections. Learn more about the Florida Elections Reporting Partnership at floridaelections.org. News organizations are welcome to republish our work, as long as they credit the writer and CommunityWire.