PHOTOS: Angie Nixon holds AAPI roundtable at St. Petersburg’s Queer Asian Museum

Angie Nixon (C) and AAPI roundtable participants Oct. 19. (Photo by Ryan Williams-Jent)

ST. PETERSBURG | U.S. Senate nominee Angie Nixon held an Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders roundtable Oct. 19 at the Queer Asian Museum, connecting with local leaders as early voting began across Florida.

QAM opened in March and is billed as “the world’s first museum dedicated to queer Asian identity.” Marketing Coordinator Nancy LeTard said Nixon’s campaign reached out to connect and converse with local AAPI community members and leaders.

The campaign’s Director of AAPI Engagement Yen Bailey provided lunch from St. Petersburg’s Asian fusion restaurant Pin on Grand for the gathering. Around 15 people attended with six people driving the primary discussion with Nixon.

Participants included Florida House District 61 candidate May Thach, a Democrat who could make history if elected Nov. 3. She would become the state legislature’s first Asian-born and first Cambodian member.

“We’re striving for that representation,” she shared. “It’s 2026… there’s a lot more representation for our community and I’m really excited, alongside Angie’s campaign, that she’s wanting to hear more about our communities, the issues that matter to us and what she can do as our next U.S. senator.”

Tampa Bay musician Raffy Bleu, Equality Florida Safe & Healthy Schools Manager Alex Quinto and Project No Labels Executive Director Claire Elisan also participated. Bleu proudly shared that this election will mark his first as a voter, having become a U.S. citizen last year, and the discussion also touched on discrimination, education and funding for local nonprofits like PNL.

Nixon said if elected she would work to repeal the Republican “Big B.S. Bill” signed by Donald Trump last year. Officially known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” she said it “gave massive tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy and caused a lot of money to be cut for programs that work within the community,” which she would work to bring back.

In the interim, she encouraged participants to identify local leaders and create diverse coalitions to support community efforts. “Create an AAPI agenda of what you want to see in St. Pete, in Pinellas, and create a budget with where you want some of your taxpayer dollars to go,” Nixon said. “Then present that to whomever is in leadership.”

The candidate also advised attendees to reach out to her campaign with concerns, vowing that her office will look like the community she serves if elected.

“We’re going to be reflective of the electorate,” Nixon promised. “We are going to have AAPI staffers, Black staffers, Hispanic staffers, gay and queer staffers, senior staff — like an elder — a Gen Z’er,” she shared. “Because I don’t profess to know everything… but I need my team to know. We’re going to have town hall meetings and in-person office hours to connect people to resources.”

“We were glad to welcome State Representative Angie Nixon to the Queer Asian Museum,” says Founder Leo Andersen. “Asian voices matter. Meeting with AAPI community leaders matters. Queer history with Asian representation matters. We are also honored to call St. Petersburg Florida home as political and community leaders are engaging in real conversation right here under this pelican flag.

“We welcome more leaders across the political spectrum who want to learn about our community to come visit,” he continues. “Being aware is the first step toward building any common ground.”

Watermark Out News attended the roundtable and you can view our photos below.

Photos by Ryan Williams-Jent.

Election Day is Nov. 3 and early voting is underway through Nov. 1. Visit Vote.org or contact your local Supervisor of Elections at MyFloridaElections.com for additional details.

Learn more about Angie Nixon’s campaign at AngieNixon.com and read more about the election in the next issue of Watermark Out News, available Oct. 22.