When state Rep. Angie Nixon opened a bookstore called Cafe Resistance, the name could apply as well to the stances she’s taken in the state Legislature.
Nixon, D-Jacksonville, organized a sit-in on the House floor protesting a Congressional redistricting plan by the Republican-controlled Legislature that diminished Black voter power in north Florida, introduced a resolution calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war that was defeated 104-2 by the House, and has been one of the most vocal critics of Gov. Ron DeSantis in her appearances at rallies and news conferences.
She’s facing a challenge in the Democratic Party primary contest Tuesday from former Jacksonville City Council member Brenda Priestly Jackson who says Nixon has failed at the two core tasks for a lawmaker — passing legislation and getting state appropriations for her district.
It’s the most closely-watched state race in Duval County with two well-known candidates on the ballot for House District 13. Democratic voters in the district will decide Tuesday what approach they want their representative to take in Tallahassee where Republicans overwhelmingly control the Legislature, the governor’s mansion and the rest of state government.
Priestly Jackson and Nixon drew a sharp line on the choice when they fielded a question about their views of DeSantis at a candidate forum sponsored by the African Methodist Episcopal Church East Conference Ministerial Alliance.
Priestly Jackson said DeSantis’s “attacks and policies and practices” are “unconscionable and unfair. I don’t like it. I think it further divides us. I think it sends Black folks back into chains.”
She said those are “Brenda Priestly Jackson’s opinions” but as a practicing attorney for almost 29 years, she understands the different roles within state government.
“And the role of the legislator is to advance legislation and get funding appropriations,” she said. “So as much as I may have disdain for Gov. DeSantis’s policies and many of his practices, I also understand he has the fundamental power of the pen. It’s called line-item veto authority. So do I let my personal disdain for him cause the neighbors in House District 13 to suffer? You have to subvert yourself to serve.”
Nixon, who has been a community organizer for more than a decade, said the stakes are too high for “go along, get along” politics. She said DeSantis bears responsibility for the Dollar General store shooting on Aug. 26, 2023, when a white Clay County gunman killed three Black people based on their race.
“You cannot play respectability politics and play nice with people who do not only not like you but don’t want your communities to exist,” she said. “Let’s be clear. At the end of the month, we are going to have to commemorate the brutal execution of three innocent lives that were snuffed out because of the hateful rhetoric — the harmful and incendiary rhetoric — that Ron DeSantis has pushed for the past six years.”
She said she speaks out to give voice to her constituents and if she hasn’t been effective, “extremist Republicans” wouldn’t be trying to defeat her by supporting Priestly Jackson.
“Why do Republicans in Tallahassee want to get rid of Angie Nixon?” she said. “Because she is making too much noise and organizing our community to fight back for what is ours.”
Tracie Davis and Kimberly Daniels face challengers in primary
The race between Nixon and Priestly Jackson is one of three state legislative contests in Duval County that will be effectively decided Tuesday in the Democratic Party primary because no Republicans filed for the seats. The three contests each had write-in candidates file to be on the November ballot, a political maneuver that closes the primary voting to just registered Democrats.
State Sen. Tracie Davis, who has been a legislative ally of Nixon, faces a challenge by Francky Jeanty, founder and CEO of 7 Second College Consulting. Jeanty is,a first-time candidate who has raised a small fraction of the campaign contributions amassed by Davis in the Senate District 5 race that covers a large part of Jacksonville.
State Rep. Kimberly Daniels, a political adversary of Nixon, faces two challengers: Therese Wakefield-Gamble and Lloyd Caulker, for House District 14. Wakefield-Smith has been far more active on the campaign trail than Caulker, who had not raised any campaign money.
For Daniels, a billboard off the Arlington Expressway conveys her message that she has gotten results by bringing “millions to the district.” Wakefield-Campbell is running as the “true Democrat” contending Daniels’ voting record makes her a “fake Democrat” on abortion access, education and labor issues.
In a sign of the churn of Democratic Party politics in Duval County, Daniels was ousted from the state Legislature in 2020 by Nixon. Redrawn lines then put them in different districts when Nixon won re-election in 2022 and Daniels won her way back to the House.
Before seeking another two-year term in the House, Nixon considered running in 2023 for the City Council district that Priestly Jackson represented. As it turned out, Priestly Jackson didn’t try for another term on council because redistricting put her and fellow council member Ju’Coby Pittman in the same council district. Instead, Priestly Jackson filed for the House district represented by Nixon.
University of North Florida political science professor Michael Binder said it’s the most compelling state contest in the Jacksonville area because voters know Priestly Jackson from her eight years on the Duval County School Board and four years on City Council.
He said the race boils down to a choice between voters wanting someone who will put public attention on “things that we care about and think are fundamentally unfair” or going with someone who might not be so outspoken while working to bring back some money for projects.
“It’s obviously up to the Democrats in that district to make that choice, and it’s a stark one,” Binder said.
How Nixon and Daniels compare in winning appropriations
Priestly Jackson said Nixon was the only one of 120 House members who did not get a member-sponsored appropriation into the budget during this year’s legislative session. The previous year in 2023, Nixon got $350,000 into the budget for Wayman Academy of the Arts but DeSantis used his line-item veto on it.
Daniels worked with JaxPort over the past two years on appropriations she sponsored on the House side worth $53 million for cargo cranes. She also won support for several smaller appropriations for various non-profits adding up to around $1.4 million.
Priestly Jackson said she has not decided what specific projects she would sponsor if elected. She said she has been hearing people want “everyday needs” addressed such as better infrastructure, help for nonprofits and assistance for small businesses.
“The community must set the agenda,” she said.
While Nixon has charged that Priestly Jackson is a “Republican plant” in the race, Priestly Jackson said she’s been a lifelong Democrat. “I’m planted on the Northside of Jacksonville,” she said of where she grew up. “That’s where I’m planted. Those are my roots.”
She said she’s drawn campaign support from Democrats and Republicans because they believe she can bring to Tallahassee the same bipartisanship she forged on City Council for funding road projects and stopping the sale of JEA in 2019.
Nixon said the the reality is the Republican-controlled Legislature operates as a highly partisan body that’s far removed from allowing the kind of bipartisan relationships possible at the City Council level. “We’re not just in a minority in Tallahassee,” she said. “We’re in a super-minority.”
She said she’s still been able to work behind the scenes with other legislators to advance funding for sickle cell programs and childcare vouchers. By putting Republicans “on blast” for their policies, she said that creates political space for moderate Democrats that they wouldn’t have it she and other progressives weren’t speaking out in the House.
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And she said her roots in community organizing has carried over in helping constituents with issues such as unemployment and housing problems.
“I’ve been out in the community advocating and fighting before I was in office, while I’m in office, and when I’m done, I’m going to continue,” she said.
Early voting goes through Sunday at 24 sites across Duval County from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. On election day Tuesday, polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Florida Rep. Angie Nixon faces Brenda Priestly Jackson in primary
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