TALLAHASSEE — The two Democrats at the top of the Florida party’s statewide ticket came together Friday on the campus of Florida A&M University — one of the few times they have campaigned in tandem since winning their nominations.
Both Democratic gubernatorial candidate David Jolly, a former Republican, and Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Angie Nixon, who embraces Democratic Socialist principles, stood on a stage on FAMU’s campus with famed film producer Will Packer, an alumnus who riled up the crowd by saying the university is “under attack right now because of the forces in politics.”
He referred to FAMU President Marva Johnson, whose presidency has alarmed a considerable bloc of alumni because of her political ties to Gov. Ron DeSantis.
As the Democrats gathered briefly on the stage in Tallahassee, President Donald Trump was in Fort Myers, where he led a campaign rally for Republican gubernatorial nominee Byron Donalds and Ashley Moody, running for election to the Senate in her own right, having been appointed by DeSantis.
Friday marked Jolly’s sixth visit to FAMU in as many months, his most recent at a student government-sponsored event. He told the crowd he wants to return FAMU to its golden era of civil rights advocacy. To that end, he repeated his commitment to deliver $2 billion in enhanced funding to the university, money former students have alleged in a lawsuit the state owes the university.
READ MORE: In Lakeland visit, JD Vance says Angie Nixon ‘doesn’t belong in America’
Nixon, who followed Jolly onstage, started her remarks with her usual, “Can I get a Duuu-val?” — the chant borrowed from her hometown NFL team, the Jacksonville Jaguars. She reminded the crowd of Vice President JD Vance’s comments that she “doesn’t belong in America,” and hammered away at her opponent, Moody, and her involvement as Florida attorney general in the Hope Florida controversy.
“Ashely Moody can call me whatever she wants. JD Vance can say whatever he wants about me. Donald Trump can say whatever they want. But come Nov. 3, they will be calling me senator. Let’s go. Let’s go,” she told the crowd.
Muted anti-ICE march
Before Nixon and Jolly took the stage, on the other side of campus FAMU student organizers marched to call upon the university to revoke its 287(g) agreement with the federal government, deputizing campus police officers to assist in federal immigration enforcement.
The protest, which drew about eight students, came well more than a year after Florida universities’ police departments made national headlines for signing the agreements.
Led by FAMU Students for a Democratic Society, the gathering began alongside a bustling stretch of food vendors celebrating FAMU homecoming. Participants chanted, “No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here.”
Jayla Jones, a fourth year political science student, flagged Johnson’s appointment as president as a sticking point. “Our campus culture has shifted a lot,” she said.
“Our protest is surrounding the 287(g) agreement, and we do understand that to get it off we do need a different governor than Ron DeSantis and the Republican Party that allows for the 287(g) agreement to be in Florida and to also be on FAMU’s campus,” Jones said.
“Especially with recent attacks on voting rights, I feel like this has made our campus more urgent to vote,” Jones said. “FAMU is definitely down with going to the polls.”
Early voting
As of 2 p.m Saturday, more than half of vote-by-mail ballots requested from county supervisors of elections had been returned — roughly 1.3 million — while more than 1.16 million remained outstanding. Of those returned, 562,479 were from registered Democrats, 471,245 from registered Republicans, and 247,905 from no-party-affiliation voters.
At the same time, 1,007,584 people had voted at an early voting location, with 446,330 registered Republicans and 364,370 registered Democrats. Nearly 172,000 no-party-affiliation voters had cast early ballots.
The Leon County supervisor of elections office operates 10 early voting sites across the county, including one at FAMU with three voting machines. According to the Leon County elections office, 50 people had voted as of 2:30 p.m. Friday.
FAMU alum Achaia Jackson said he tried to early-vote Friday but he wasn’t registered in Leon County. The opportunity to vote Florida’s first Black governor or first Black senator, he said, didn’t distinguish this election from past years’.
“For me, it’s just like do your job and do what’s in favor of the people, essentially, and not abuse the power. That’s my thing, really. It doesn’t matter about anyone’s race,” he said.
Jackson wasn’t well-versed on either Jolly’s or Donald’s politics, he said. He did know about Nixon, though, as he follows her on social media.
“Angie Nixon is amazing. I’ve seen her all over social media and she’s really in favor of doing the right thing. (She’s) in favor of people, especially with student debt. As a graduate right now, I’m still in debt and it would be great to have, you know, a lot of my fees waived and paid off.”
Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.
