Sanders Stumps for Nixon at UF as Florida Senate Race Nears Nov. 3 Vote

A Gainesville Stop With Statewide Stakes

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders appeared Sunday at the University of Florida’s University Auditorium alongside Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Angie Nixon, according to WCJB TV20. The stop was part of Sanders’ “Fighting Oligarchy” tour, a nationwide series of events focused on economic inequality and corporate influence in politics. The Gainesville rally drew attendees from across North Central Florida, the station reported.

The event itself happened roughly 60 miles from Cedar Key, but the race it was built around reaches every ballot box in Florida, including those in Levy County, Cedar Key, Chiefland, Williston, Bronson, Yankeetown and Inglis.

The Race on the Ballot

Nixon, a former Florida state representative, is challenging Republican incumbent Ashley Moody for a U.S. Senate seat. Moody did not win her seat through election to this term, she was appointed to the Senate in 2025 after Marco Rubio left the chamber to become U.S. secretary of state, according to WCJB TV20. That means this November’s contest is the first time Florida voters statewide will weigh in directly on who holds that seat since Moody’s appointment.

Florida voters will decide the race on Nov. 3, per the station’s reporting. No further detail on registration deadlines, early voting dates or local polling arrangements for Levy County was included in the source material reviewed for this story, and none should be assumed from the Gainesville event alone.

Why This Reaches the Coast

A U.S. Senate seat is one of two statewide offices that every county, regardless of population, decides with equal weight on Election Day. For a small, rural county like Levy, where Cedar Key’s working waterfront, the aquaculture industry and the refuge sit alongside inland communities such as Chiefland and Williston, a statewide Senate race determines who represents the entire state in Washington on matters ranging from federal fisheries policy to disaster funding after storms that have repeatedly tested this coast.

The Sanders appearance does not change any law, rule or funding stream affecting Cedar Key or Levy County. It was a campaign event tied to one candidate’s bid in a contested statewide race. What it does confirm, based directly on the WCJB TV20 account, is that the Nixon-Moody contest is now actively being contested in public events ahead of the Nov. 3 vote, and that the seat itself remains unelected by voters since Rubio’s departure for the State Department in 2025.

What to Watch

Readers along the Nature Coast who plan to vote in the Senate race should confirm registration status and polling information through the Levy County Supervisor of Elections, since no county-level voting logistics were addressed in the source reporting on the UF rally. Florida & Cedar Key News will track additional statewide developments in the Senate race, including any Levy County-specific campaign stops, debates or ballot information, as they are confirmed through verifiable reporting.

For now, the concrete, checkable fact is this: Sanders and Nixon appeared together at UF on Sunday as part of a national tour, Moody holds the seat by appointment rather than election, and Florida voters set the outcome on Nov. 3.