New Poll Has Fried Surging Past Crist in Democratic Primary race

The 2022 Democratic gubernatorial primary is officially a 'Toss-Up" race between Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried and Rep. Charlie Crist, as a new poll shows that Fried's collective campaign efforts pushed her ahead of the popular former governor of Florida.

According to the latest PPP poll, Commissioner Fried has moved ahead of Rep. Crist by a small 3-point margin, but the bigger story here is the 32% undecided voters surveyed.

Kevin Cate, Fried's media consultant told The Floridian that he "didn't expect Nikki to be pulling even or ahead of Crist until the fall" considering Crist's statewide name ID.

"It's always nice to see a lead in a poll, especially from a pollster so highly rated, but it's still way early, and earlier than we would have anticipated pulling even or ahead of someone running statewide for the seventh time. However, this is likely a reflection of the statewide leadership of Commissioner Fried during this COVID crisis. We know Democrats want someone who can beat Ron DeSantis, someone who can hold the rigged system accountable, but most importantly, somebody who puts politics aside to get things done for Floridians — and that's Nikki Fried. She's qualified, she's proven, and she's ready," said Cate in a statement.