Fried: ‘We’re Gonna win’ Gubernatorial Race in 2022

Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried (D) released a video this week, reminding Floridians that she is “the only statewide elected Democrat in Florida.” She’s hoping to defeat Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) in the upcoming 2022 gubernatorial race as Democrats are on the verge of losing their voter registration advantage. Still, Fried remains confident in her platform and campaign, assuring that “we’re gonna win.”

On Tuesday night, Democrats hosted a Zoom rally to celebrate National Voter Registration Day. At the event, the main Democratic candidates for governor and U.S. Senate spoke.

Commissioner Fried shared her thoughts on the rising cost of living in Florida, and she placed blame on Republicans, arguing that Floridians “have had one party controlling the state for 25 years.”

Florida Rep. Charlie Crist (D), who’s also running for Governor, and who previously served as Governor of Florida as a Republican, also criticized Governor DeSantis, calling him a “nightmare.”

Democrats have stressed the need to register voters as the numbers show that their registration advantage is dwindling ahead of the 2022 midterm election.

As reported by Matt Dixon of POLITICO, “Republicans have nearly entirely eroded Democrat’s long standing voter registration advantage, which at its peak was 700,000 when President Barack Obama won Florida in 2008.” At the start of 2021, “the lead for Democrats was down to roughly 100,000,” and now it “has further narrowed to 23,055 over the past eight months, according to August numbers.”

Former Florida Rep. Alan Grayson (D), who’s running for the Senate, commented on the registration effort, saying that he was “horrified by the thought” of Republicans taking the advantage ahead of the midterm election.

In response, a Florida Democratic organizer said that the party has a goal of registering 150,000 Democrats, which they hope will also translate to electing a Democratic Governor.

Fried, in her gubernatorial effort, hopes to provide “something new” for Floridians, but her primary challenger, Rep. Crist, is also vying for the position.