Angie Nixon’s charity raised more than $270,000 for her Jacksonville Cafe Resistance, but state filings leave most of that money unexplained, and the shop sits under her for-profit firm.
Florida Democratic Senate nominee Angie Nixon controlled a charity that pulled in more than $271,000 in 2024 after she told donors the money would support Cafe Resistance, a bookstore and coffee shop she opened the same year in Jacksonville. When the shop opened, its business licenses sat under her personal for-profit company, Moxie Group LLC, not the charity.
By the time the IRS deadline for a 2024 nonprofit return passed in November 2025, no Form 990 had been filed. A Florida financial statement Nixon’s charity submitted in January 2025 listed $214,000 spent on “other,” with no clear public breakdown of what that covered. After the Washington Free Beacon pressed for answers on September 25, the Florida Department of State dissolved the Moxie charity as a business entity that same day, and the group’s online fundraising portal went dark by the afternoon of September 26.
Taxpayers and voters are left with a simple ledger problem. Large tax-deductible dollars came in. The cafe operated under a for-profit LLC. Most of the reported outlay was labeled “other.” The federal nonprofit report never appeared.
Nixon announced Cafe Resistance in early 2024 as a protest of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s moves against sexually explicit books in public schools. Fundraising pitches said donations to her Moxie Group charity would support the bookstore’s operation. The charity described itself as working “to empower and uplift underserved and underrepresented communities.”
The shop, a squat cinderblock building in Jacksonville, opened with a black power theme, including a Black Panther clenched-fist sign at the door and a wall devoted to militant figures. Recent solicitations said the charity was “housed” within Cafe Resistance and funded programming such as black history classes and free contraceptives and Plan B.
That pitch sat beside a different legal reality. Cafe Resistance’s business licenses were registered to Moxie Group LLC, Nixon’s for-profit firm. The charity and the bookstore also shared the same email address for bookings. Nixon is an officer and director of the charity and controls the LLC.
The same candidate has drawn scrutiny for other hard-left positions, including when Angie Nixon joined the Democratic Socialists and later tried to soft-pedal that tie on the campaign trail.
The Florida Department of Agriculture filing for 2024 shows the charity raised more than $271,000. Of that, $144,000 came as grants from the Groundswell Fund, the Women Donors Network, and the Amalgamated Charitable Foundation. Those grantmakers did not return requests for comment.
Reported spending included about $14,000 on occupancy and $19,400 on contract workers. The dominant line was $214,000 on “other.” The public statement did not itemize what filled that bucket.
Federal law requires most 501(c)(3) groups to file a Form 990 detailing revenue, expenses, and related-party dealings. Nixon’s charity missed the November 2025 deadline for 2024 activity. Without that return, donors and regulators lack the standard federal window into how the money moved.
Patrick Sternal, a former nonprofit tax law specialist in the IRS Office of Tax Exempt and Government Entities, reviewed the arrangement and saw clear warning signs.
Sternal told reporters:
“There are several red flags here.”
He went further on the charity-to-LLC structure:
“The intermingling of the bookstore/café with the charity is itself problematic. This looks like private inurement insofar as charitable funds seem to be flowing to the LLC and ultimately to Nixon, who is an officer and director of the charity. Private inurement is absolutely prohibited under 501(c)(3).”
Sternal also warned of the downside if the IRS concludes personal benefit:
“If the IRS were to determine she is benefiting personally from the charity, its exemption could be revoked and she may have personal tax liability.”
Throughout 2026, Cafe Resistance gave Nixon’s Senate campaign open use of the space for rallies, phone banks, and fundraising events. Campaign ads were filmed there. Campaign materials were on display during reporter visits in September. Federal rules generally bar corporations and charities from donating free services or event space to campaigns, with narrow exceptions. Nixon’s campaign reported no disbursements to the LLC or the charity for that use.
Election lawyer Jason Torchinsky put the risk in plain terms.
Torchinsky said:
“She appears to be using tax-deductible dollars to subsidize her campaign. That’s a big problem for the IRS, and it sounds like that may be happening here. Frankly, it also may be a problem for the Florida Department of Agriculture.”
Nixon’s primary win already put her on a national radar for cultural fights, including when the Florida Democratic Senate nominee called drag shows “wholesome” for children and said she had brought her own kids.
On September 16, a Free Beacon reporter who called the shop was first steered toward donating to the Senate campaign, then told the charity was “totally separate” and that people could donate books or cash in person. On September 21, a manager at the cafe said she had no knowledge of any charity operating inside the shop and claimed she was working as a volunteer.
The charity’s Florida solicitation license expired January 28. Aaron Keller, communications director for the Florida Department of Agriculture, said the department is reviewing whether the charity solicited contributions while unregistered.
That review landed after the Free Beacon’s September 25 inquiry. Nixon and her campaign did not answer the outlet’s questions. The same day, the Florida Department of State dissolved the Moxie charity as a business entity. By the next afternoon, the Zeffy online donation portal that had been live the day before was shut down.
Nixon’s personal finances add another layer of scrutiny for a candidate who suddenly had access to a large charitable haul. A June 2024 state disclosure listed her net worth at $13,000. A September 2024 financial affidavit tied to a divorce filing showed a negative net worth of more than $256,000 and spending nearly $3,000 more than she earned each month. She filed for divorce in 2024 and later withdrew the petition. 2025 disclosures showed a net worth of negative $940 after at least $270,000 from jobs and investments. Nixon has said she is on a payment plan with the IRS.
Her record on election rules has also drawn attention, including Angie Nixon’s resurfaced remarks backing an end to the Electoral College and major changes to how votes are counted.
Last week on Threads, Nixon pushed back at the dollar figure tied to the charity:
“Do you all think if I made $270K a year I would be riding around in a 2006 Honda Pilot I bought on Facebook marketplace? Please be for real!”
The post did not explain the $214,000 “other” line, the missing Form 990, the for-profit license setup, or the free campaign use of the shop.
Charities that solicit tax-deductible gifts owe donors a clear trail: what came in, what went out, and whether insiders or related companies benefited. Here the public file shows a six-figure “other” category, a cafe under an LLC controlled by the same official who runs the charity, no timely federal return, a lapsed state solicitation license, and a campaign that used the space without reported payments.
Nixon still owes Floridians a full accounting of the grants and gifts that were sold as support for Cafe Resistance. Dissolving the charity entity and killing the donation page after press questions does not close the ledger. It underscores how little light has been shed on the money so far.
Voters weighing her Senate bid already know her left-wing brand, from housing rhetoric to staff controversies such as a Florida DSA Senate candidate’s paid staffer who hailed Hamas as “freedom fighters.” Financial fog around a nonprofit she controlled is another test of basic accountability.
When politicians mix charity, a private company, and a campaign under one roof, taxpayers should demand receipts, not slogans, before another dollar is written off as “other.”
