Two Florida Democrats who are fighting for their political lives after seeing their congressional seats redistricted voted Tuesday for a resolution denouncing “socialism in all of its forms.”
Kathy Castor and Darren Soto joined six other Democrats in supporting the resolution. The final vote was 220-192, with two Democrats voting present.
The resolution “denounces socialism in all of its forms, including the Democratic Socialists of America.”
Democratic Socialists of America-backed candidates have seen success in high-profile primary races across the country this summer, including in Florida, where Jacksonville state Rep. Angie Nixon defeated the vastly better-funded Alex Vindman in the primary for U.S. Senate last month.
Colorado Republican Rep. Jeff Crank, who sponsored the resolution, said last week that it was a “simple up or down vote” on the platform of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).
Castor has represented a district in the Tampa Bay area for 20 years, but her re-election hopes are in question after her district was redistricted to one that Donald Trump won by more than 10 points in 2024. Soto’s Central Florida district was completely wiped out, and he now is running in an area that supported Trump by more than 18 points in 2024.
Florida Republicans have seized on the momentum of the DSA nationally this summer to paint Florida Democrats as socialists, and they received a gift of sorts when Nixon defeated Vindman.
“The DSA has infiltrated the Democratic Party at all levels of government and has never been more apparent than here in the state of Florida with the election of Angie Nixon for U.S. Senate,” Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia said Tuesday during a Republican Party of Florida event in Tampa. “It has never been more apparent that the Democratic Party of Florida is the DSA.”
Most Democrats opposed the resolution because it included language urging passage of the SAVE America Act.
“House Resolution 1490 explicitly calls for enactment of the so-called SAVE America Act, which is the top legislative priority of far-right extremists. Accordingly, I will vote No on the latest MAGA effort to rig the midterm elections,” House Democratic Leader Hakeen Jeffries said.
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