The Florida GOP’s red scare is losing steam

For Republicans in Florida, the midterm message to voters is clear: All Democrats are socialist. 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. 

The socialist trope is not new. Florida Republicans have used it for years. But the 2026 midterms are bringing it to new heights as the GOP capitalizes on Angie Nixon’s unexpected Democratic nomination for 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. “I don’t believe in labels,” she told 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. “That adds fuel to this attack in a way that we’ve never seen before in 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. Socialists believe government is the solution and individual freedom is the obstacle to progress,” said Evan Power, Florida GOP chairman, in the statement.

Even the most moderate of Democrats are being targeted by this 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. 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. 

“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. “I don’t know how that has any meaning any longer. It’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”

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. “I categorically reject that he’s a moderate,” Power told me. Democrats, he said, “are radical leftists who are hiding under this moderate 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. And yet, in an interview with Fox Business, his Republican opponent, Scott Singer, drew connections between Moskowitz, a centrist, and Nixon. “Nixon-Moskowitz,” he said. “That’s the federal ticket.”

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). For others, including the 25 percent of independent voters registered in Florida, it carries less weight. “Everyone is a socialist. 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. 

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. “The economic status quo for so many Americans and many Floridians is simply untenable, and they are desperate for something different.” Nixon is running on a platform that calls for Medicare For All, universal child care, and affordable housing. “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. 

“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. Donalds’ campaign, he added, has heavily catered to the Republican base. But in a state where Republicans outnumber Democrats by 1.5 million registered voters, that could be enough to secure the governorship.

Following his primary win, Jolly went on national TV and refuted claims of ties to the 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. The socialism narrative “will impact some voters,” Jolly told me on a phone call this week. “We learned from Trump, if you scream something a thousand times, it sadly saturates. But it’s not working with the same currency it has in past 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. 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.

Rodriguez, the son of Cuban immigrants, called the GOP’s socialism framing a “ridiculous” talking point. “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.

Republicans are also dealing with the backlash of a leaked grand jury report that concluded Gov. Ron DeSantis’s administration diverted $10 million meant to fund health care for poor children to “multiple organizations before eventually landing in the bank accounts of two political action committees and the Republican Party of Florida,” CBS News reported. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, who was appointed by DeSantis and now up for election, and Sen. Ashley Moody, who was Florida AG at the time and is now the Republican candidate running against Nixon, were involved in the plans. Democrats—and even some GOP legislators—are calling for a full investigation.

The relentless focus on socialism has even caught the attention of Republicans like George W. Kruse, a GOP county commissioner in deep-red Manatee County, who posted on X this week in response to a tweet by the Florida GOP account.

Kruse wrote in his post: “It is really starting to feel like it’s being used to relabel and define those who simply want more affordability and less corporate cronyism and partisan fealty…I know labels are easier than thoughtful policy discussions, but please do better. I believe the Florida voters, of both parties, deserve an honest debate this election cycle, not lazy scare-tactics.”

“I do not hear the policies,” Kruse told me in a phone call, acknowledging that a few Republican colleagues had criticized his post. “All I hear is soundbites and labels. It’s a disservice to both parties. It’s a disservice to every single voter in the state of Florida… We should be better than this.”