Watchdog accuses DSA candidate of blurring charity, business and campaign: ‘What happened to all that money?’

The National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC), a conservative government watchdog, filed a complaint on Monday against Angie Nixon, a state legislator and candidate for U.S. Senate in Florida backed by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), alleging that she may have violated "a number of Florida and federal laws."

The complaint asks authorities to probe whether she used her now-defunct nonprofit, the Moxie Group Inc., to benefit herself. It comes as Nixon wages an uphill race to unseat Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Fla.

Nixon's campaign disputes the characterizations, noting that Nixon's involvement with the nonprofit ended in December 2025 when she resigned as its principal manager. The Moxie Group was initially intended to receive federal tax-exempt contributions for a community project named Café Resistance, a community-oriented bookstore and coffee shop in Jacksonville.

NLPC is asking the Federal Election Commission, the IRS, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Florida attorney general to investigate the Moxie Group along four lines: unaccounted-for charitable expenses, overlap between the nonprofit and a for-profit business, whether it solicited donations even after the group was disbanded and whether Nixon’s use of her business space for campaign purposes violates federal campaign restrictions.

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Democratic U.S. Senate candidate and Florida state Rep. Angie Nixon speaks during a campaign event at the St. John Missionary Baptist Church on Sept. 28, 2026, in Boynton Beach, Florida. Nixon faces incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Fla., in the November 3 general election. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

According to the Moxie Group’s 2024 reporting, it spent $210,000 with an "other" designation, leaving most of its spending unaccounted for.

"While she itemized some of the charity’s expenses … a whopping $210,000 ... was simply listed as ‘other’ with no description or itemization of what those funds were spent for even though the form requires the charity to ‘list item’ for those ‘other’ expenses. What happened to all that money?" NLPC wrote in its complaint.

Parts of the $210,000 figure have broad descriptions but lack itemization in the 2024 reporting. Two of them under the "other" designation include one $42,560 payment and another $68,304 disbursement, both under "program services." A third, a $3,437 item, is categorized under "management & general."

Outside the "other" category, listed expenses include equipment rentals, insurance, advertising, information technology and fees for non-employees.

The unknowns in the money trail, NLPC contends, are especially important given the overlap between Nixon’s nonprofit and her business — the complaint’s second area of concern.

The document notes that after founding her nonprofit in 2019, Nixon transferred its registration license to her personal for-profit company by the same name — DBA Café Resistance Bookstore and Coffee Shop.

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Florida state Rep. Angie Nixon campaigns during a tour of the Little Havana neighborhood on August 15, 2026, in Miami, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

"Although the charity was ostensibly established to raise funds for a local community bookstore/café, the license for that establishment was transferred to her for-profit The Moxie Group LLC DBA Café Resistance Bookstore and Coffee Shop," the complaint reads.

Third, NLPC questioned whether Nixon raised donations for her nonprofit even after its board of directors voted to disband the group on Dec. 15, 2025.

"It waited over nine months to file Articles of Dissolution with the Florida Secretary of State on Oct. 1, 2026," the group wrote.

The complaint says the Moxie Group did not take down its fundraising site, stating that its contributors were promised "a tax receipt for making a donation," a confirmation for charitable donations. The complaint includes screenshots of the now-archived website.

Fox News Digital is not aware of any specific contributions the Moxie Group may have received that were directed to the nonprofit during that time. Nixon's campaign noted that, because she stepped down as the nonprofit's manager in December 2025 — ahead of the board's disbandment on Dec. 15 — she would not have been involved in any decisions about the group's articles of dissolution or donations received after her resignation.

As its final area of concern, NLPC believes that previously reported accounts of letting the group use its space for campaign events — without some form of payment — would constitute a violation of campaign finance laws.

"It appears that the Café Resistance and Bookstore has been functioning as the candidate’s campaign de facto headquarters or a branch thereof. Indeed, Café Resistance is hosting a phone bank operation on its premises," the complaint states.

According to Nixon’s campaign website, the coffee shop is listed as the location for "Ten toes down Tuesday phonebank," an event scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 27.

"Let’s go all in for Angie!! Tuesdays can be so fun when we spend them phonebanking for Angie! Together we will call registered voters to remind them that early voting is going on statewide and we need them to vote, now more than ever! Bring your charged-up phone, laptops and/or tablets!" the event’s description reads.

Nixon’s campaign said it has not made payments to Café Resistance and has used only the group’s parking lot. The campaign also noted that Nixon does not own the building.

Even so, NLPC also noted that if any of the funding that had been made as a contribution to the nonprofit had ended up paying for the business’ rent, that could also constitute a campaign finance violation, the group contends.

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Democratic U.S. Senate candidate, Florida state Rep. Angie Nixon speaks during a visit to the Ball and Chain Cuban restaurant/nightclub as she campaigns in the Little Havana neighborhood on Aug. 29, 2026, in Miami, Fla. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

"To the extent that contributions to the charity were used to pay the rent and expenses of the for-profit Café Resistance Bookstore and Coffee Shop, which in turn was used for Angie Nixon’s political campaign, that is a clear violation of 501(c)(3) rules that prohibit charities from using their funds for political campaign purposes," the document reads.

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Having secured the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate earlier this year, Nixon will face off against Moody next week in the state's Nov. 3 general election.