A steady rain and dreary skies didn't keep a couple of thousand people away from hearing Sen. Bernie Sanders stump for Angie Nixon in her quest to unseat Ashley Moody as Florida's junior U.S. Senator.
Sanders has been one of the most well-known politicians to back Nixon.
"There have been many, many hundreds of elections throughout this country in this campaign cycle, but there is one election that seemed to me rather extraordinary," Sanders told the crowd.
"There was a candidate in the Democratic primary who was outspent 15 to one. There was a candidate who had no establishment support. There was a candidate who created an extraordinary grassroots movement of working-class people, and that candidate is Angie Nixon," he said. "Nobody thought that Angie could win the primary. People think she can't win the general election. Let me tell you, they're wrong. She's the next U.S. Senator."
Sanders framed the race as one to control the influence of billionaires in our election system. He criticized their outsized influence in election campaigns, calling for an end to super political action committees and unlimited financing of politicians.
Nixon introduced Sanders, after doing a dance on stage to pump up the crowd.
"We are only 17 days away from election day," she said. "And let me tell you something. We're going to win. We are going to win because working people are sick and tired of the skyrocketing cost, sick and tired of the corruption that's raising our costs, and sick and tired of politicians like Ashley Moody, who are getting rich from the corruption, while we struggle to get by."
She repeated her campaign mantra of providing living wages and affordable health care for workers.
"No matter where I am in Florida, I hear the same thing: People are tired. We're tired of the corruption. We are tired of working harder and having less to show for it," Nixon said. "We're tired of going to the grocery store and spending $100 just to walk out with only two bags of groceries. We're tired of opening that electric bill and wondering how in the world it got so damn high, and what will we have to give up that month to afford it? We're tired of watching our rent go up, our insurance go up, our healthcare costs go up, while our paychecks stay exactly the same."
One of the people standing in the rain to watch her was Tyler French. The 27-year-old came from San Antonio in Pasco County, hoping to "see some progress in our world and country."
When asked how he defines progress, he said, "Anything but the status quo at this point."
"Our generation is probably the poorest generation that - especially accounting for inflation - that has existed probably in this country almost ever," he said of what the status quo means to him. "Half of my generation still lives with their parents. And as much as I love my parents, I don't want to live with them for the rest of life. And I would like to have the ability to have my own home and family and healthcare."
French said this was his first rally for Nixon, who has identified herself as a Democratic Socialist. And he agrees with many of their policies.
"I believe that when when populations get big enough, and when your society reaches a level of of prosperity, that nobody should have to suffer unnecessarily, so a lot of what they speak about aligns with that," French said. "We claim to be the best country around, especially on the right. You hear that all the time, and meanwhile, half of our people have like chronic health issues and can't afford to deal with it. And even most of the people who work, their workplace of employment won't provide healthcare, or the healthcare that they do provide is not substantial enough."
His views were echoed by Nate Chandler, who drove with him from Dade City for the Ybor City event.
"I like that she speaks for working class people," Chandler said before the event. "She says she's going to stand for people with health care, with keeping billionaires in check. That's kind of the whole message of the DSA (Democratic Socialists of America). I'm not to say that I'm even super affiliated or consider myself DSA. I just like these are the only people that are actually speaking to the issues that matter to people."
Anais Garcia Velez, 27, of Dade City is originally from Puerto Rico. She said she has seen what socialism has done to places like Cuba, but believes there is a difference between that and Scandinavian-style democratic socialism.
"I've seen bad socialism, and I believe that I feel like, depending on your stances and how you go about what you want for your country or state, it can be a good thing," she said. "It can be done. It just has to be not corrupted."
The big issues to her are keeping federal immigration officials from arresting people in the country illegally, keeping data centers out of Florida and preserving the state's natural environment.
"I saw this as an opportunity to really hear Angie," she said. "I'm very big into the environment, especially in Florida. Florida's environment has been cemented over progressively, and it's really, really bad for not just us, but also the animals and our ecosystems here, and especially in the Everglades."
Logan Pegram of Lutz is studying psychology at USF. He said Nixon is one of the few politicians who are focusing on issues affecting young people.
"I just think all the Republicans are very not good right now. They're supporting a war in Gaza, high gas prices. We're in a useless war with Iran. That's an uphill battle that we're not going to win," he said. "And I feel as if they're not focusing on us. They're attacking people in the LGBT community. So I want people that are supporting us, and not speaking out against our existence."
When asked about his feelings about Nixon aligning herself with the democratic socialists, Pegram said that label is being used as a weapon by those on the right.
"They are using it as like a replication for communists," Pegram said. "I know (New York City Mayor Zohran) Mamdani is a democratic socialist. I know a lot of countries in Scandinavia and Western Europe are democratic socialists. I know it's a very good thing to have. I think Democrats might need to do a better job at explaining what a democratic socialist is, so that the Republicans can't use it as a buzzword against them."
Tom Hanlon of Temple Terrace said the "vast corruption" of the Trump administration is one of his biggest concerns.
"I want to hear Angie and I want to hear Bernie, because I feel like politically things are going in a very bad direction," he said, "and I think they're the solution to that problem."
He said the example of Scandinavian countries is a good path to follow for democratic socialists. Hanlon wants a stronger safety net like Social Security and fostering public education.
"I think that we've turned into this sort of hyper-capitalism in this country where we don't have a middle class anymore," Hanlon said. "We have people struggling with multiple jobs and probably living in fear of losing their jobs because of AI, and where where billionaires are profiting off of that, and we seem to be good at making billionaires, but not making a middle class."
