In a Press release issued on Sunday, Nikki Fried, candidate for Florida Agriculture Commissioner, spoke with confidence as votes pour in showing that she might well be replacing Adam Putnam in the seat.
She told Floridians that “You chose a new vision, one that reflects the priorities of the people. To everyone who didn’t vote for me, I will be your voice in Tallahassee too.”
So far, winning 50.04% of the votes, she would be the only Democrat elected in the sunshine state, and it comes as a surprise because Matt Caldwell, her Republican Opponent, was viewed as the winner on election night.
In the press release, Fried added that “It’s now time for us to come together and work in union to govern for the people of Florida, and I plan to work my hardest so I’m ready to tackle the issues as your next agriculture commissioner.”
If elected, Fried would be the first female elected as Florida Agriculture Commissioner, and she’s already set up a transition team that includes Congressman Darren Soto and former Congressman Patrick Murphy, who entertained the idea of running in the gubernatorial race with former Republican Davi Jolly as his running-mate.
The state canvassing board is set to certify the results of the manual recount on Tuesday.
The news comes as an air of voter fraud looms over the recounts, and this week it was announced that Broward Supervisor of Elections, Brenda Snipes, was turning in her resignation after being highly criticized for various questionable and flawed issues concerning the ballot counting process.
As a supporter of smokable medical marijuana, Fried has argued that the state's regulation of medical marijuana should be moved from the Department of Health to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and she's also argued for pushing Florida farmers to grow their own industrial hemp.
