If you want to find time with Angie Nixon, you might just have to do it while she’s driving. The 42-year-old labor organizer and member of the Florida House of Representatives won the Democratic Party’s Senate nomination last month, and between hitting the campaign trail and raising five children, Nixon—only the second Black woman to win a major party nomination for the US Senate in Florida—is often on the road.
That’s exactly where Vogue caught up with her this week to learn about the lessons she’s learned as a small business owner that she hopes to take with her to the Senate, the progressive politicians she’s modeling herself after, her focus on youth mental health, and the campaign-trail insult that she and her team turned into a signature look.
Vogue: What has life looked like since your Senate primary win last month?
Angie Nixon: Very, very busy. [Laughs.] “Busy” is an understatement.
I saw you recently got Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s endorsement. What has it been like to build that relationship?
It’s been really cool to talk to her and other congresspeople and representatives across the country who are ready for us to take the House and the Senate, ready to create a united front. We’re going to need all hands on deck as we fight against this money, right? It’s going to take many of us to fight against the money.
Who are some of the other politicians inspiring you right now?
I love Ayanna Pressley and the Bernie Sanderses of the world. I also love Summer Lee; she’s the best.
You’ve done so many different things over the course of your career, from co-founding Jacksonville’s Melanin Market to running the bookstore and coffee shop Cafe Resistance. How have those work experiences informed your political platform?
I have learned how to organize and seen what a lot of small business owners were facing, and I’ve learned how to bring people together and do coalition-building. Small business owners are facing a lack of access to capital and a lack of access to knowledge about how to really start a legitimate business; I mean, they have legitimate businesses, but members of the Black community or people from low-income areas sometimes start businesses out of desperation and need, and they don’t necessarily set them up the right way. I can say that, as someone who initially did that myself! [Laughs.] Knowing what small business owners face and what they need makes me want to help address those issues moving forward and set things up so that people can be successful and not start businesses that wind up closing.
