MIAMI — Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Angie Nixon’s populist campaign message of affordability is catching the eye of far-right figure James Fishback, who announced Tuesday he plans to attend one of her upcoming rallies featuring Sen. Bernie Sanders, a democratic socialist.

Nixon, who is challenging Republican Sen. Ashley Moody, said Fishback is welcome to attend, but he “just can’t be bigoted.”

Fishback lost the Republican gubernatorial primary to Naples Congressman Byron Donalds, coming in third with 10% of the vote after attacking Donalds’ race, calling him a “slave” to his donors and a “DEI” candidate. Fishback said on social media that he “may disagree with them, but they’ve tapped into something, and I want to see it for myself.”

Though Fishback says he opposes socialism and progressive candidates like Nixon, his campaign focused on making life more affordable for young people, opposing large data centers, and banning FLOCK cameras—positions that overlap with some ideals championed by politicians like Sanders and Nixon.

Fishback said Nixon and Sanders had tapped into “the frustrations of disaffected voters, even disaffected Republicans. I’m going to see if that’s true.” He said he planned to attend the rally in Melbourne because it was not a ground zero for progressives and “should be informative.”

Fishback’s interest in Nixon raises the question of whether some of Florida’s far-right voters will cross the aisle to vote for Nixon, who according to some polls is running a competitive campaign against Moody. And Nixon’s response suggests she isn’t opposed to their support.

But another far-right activist, Laura Loomer, responded to Fishback’s post by criticizing Nixon. She said, “Angie Nixon is an anti-white racist.” To which Nixon snapped back, “Nah. I just don’t like YOU!”

Trump has also insulted Nixon, calling her a “total disaster” and a communist. Earlier this month in Lakeland, Vice President J.D. Vance campaigned with Republican candidates, including Donalds, who is seeking to become Florida’s first Black governor. Vance said Nixon did not belong in America and told her to “get the hell out.”

In North Lauderdale Tuesday night, Nixon, in her speech to supporters, said “they’re lying on me. They can call me whatever they want.”

For voters like 21-year-old Christian Francis from Palm Beach County, who entered the ballroom just after Nixon, the choice is simple: vote for someone “not as bad as Ashley or Rick Scott.”

“I want someone that’s like not evil, that seems like a nice caring person. That cares for her family and has values that I agree with, getting money out of politics and being better for the working class and helping the poor people in the state of Florida,” he said. “It seems like the Florida government doesn’t care about very much all the people that are homeless and the rising cost of apartments.”

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