Sen. Bernie Sanders is launching a weeklong campaign swing through two Republican strongholds, bringing his “Fighting Oligarchy Tour” to Florida and Texas in a bid to fire up Democratic voters before the midterm elections.
The Vermont independent is scheduled to make four stops in Florida beginning Saturday — Tampa, Melbourne, Gainesville and Tallahassee — before heading to Texas for events in Amarillo, El Paso and Houston, according to The Daily Wire.
The tour will test whether Sanders’ brand of left-wing populism can translate in states that have reliably backed Republicans in recent cycles, including among immigrant communities that fled communist and socialist governments abroad.
A Florida partnership that cuts both ways
In Florida, Sanders will be joined by state Rep. Angie Nixon, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, who has made no secret of her desire to see her Republican opponent prosecuted.
During a CNN interview that drew widespread attention, Nixon pushed back on allegations that she supports abolishing prisons — arguing the charge made no sense because she wants incumbent Sen. Ashley Moody locked up.
“Why would I want to do that when I want her locked up and punished in jail for what she has done?” Nixon said during the appearance, dismissing the accusations as “disinformation and lies.”
Nixon has also spent months targeting the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, describing his supporters as tools of “white supremacy” and likening a bill honoring the Turning Point USA founder to something “brought straight by the KKK,” The Daily Wire previously reported.
Moody has seized on that record. In a recent campaign advertisement, she portrayed Nixon as a far-left radical and leaned heavily into anti-socialist messaging, saying Nixon “quotes cop killers, attacks law enforcement, and signed up for a socialist platform to abolish prisons and defund the police.”
“I approve this message because it’s freedom or socialism, and that’s not complicated,” Moody said in the ad.
Nixon’s decision to appear alongside Sanders could carry real political risk in a state where Republicans have dominated statewide contests, and where many voters have personal experience with repressive governments abroad.
Talarico keeps his distance in Texas
The Texas leg of the tour presents a different dynamic. Sanders will campaign in Amarillo, El Paso and Houston, but Democrat James Talarico — locked in a tight Senate race against Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton — will not appear with him.
Instead, former Texas Democratic candidate Beto O’Rourke will join Sanders on the trail. O’Rourke previously lost bids to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018 and Gov. Greg Abbott in 2022.
Talarico’s absence is notable as he works to court moderate voters he would need to flip Texas blue for the first time in decades. Sanders’ visit is still likely to draw statewide media attention and complicate that effort.
Republicans were quick to tie the two Democrats together. RNC spokesman Zach Kraft told The Daily Wire that Sanders and Talarico are “two peas in a socialist pod,” pointing to Talarico’s support for a Texas Green New Deal that would ban oil and gas, and a comment that he “doesn’t care how high he has to raise taxes.”
“Talarico is already auditioning to be Bernie’s top lieutenant fighting for a radical liberal agenda in the U.S. Senate,” Kraft said.
The Daily Wire has also reported on Talarico’s shifting positions on issues from border security to his religious beliefs during a CNN town hall earlier this week, as he works to distance himself from his more progressive record.
“I am not running for the U.S. Senate to represent New York or California,” Talarico said during the town hall. “I am not running for the U.S. Senate to represent the Democratic Party. I am running for Senate to represent all 31 million Texans, and I will always do what’s best for Texas.”
What the swing means for November
Sanders has spent months on the road with his oligarchy-themed tour, aiming to channel Democratic frustration into turnout at a time when the party is defending a narrow Senate map and looking for gains in states that have leaned Republican.
The Florida and Texas stops will serve as an early test of whether that message resonates in places where the Democratic label has been a liability in recent elections — and whether the candidates themselves see Sanders as an asset or a complication.
Source: www.dailywire.com — https://www.dailywire.com/news/socialist-sanders-to-barnstorm-key-red-states-ahead-of-midterms