Democrats eye Fried to Lead Florida Dems

Florida Rep. Charlie Crist (D) defeated Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried (D) in the 2022 gubernatorial primary, but Fried is now making headlines. Florida Democrats are vying for new leadership, and in a recent letter, they outline why Fried is the right choice to lead them.

"As voting members chosen to elect the next Chair of the Florida Democratic Party, we believe that Nicole 'Nikki' Fried is the obvious best choice for Party Chair and we will pledge our votes to the only Democratic statewide Cabinet member the state has elected in decades," Democrats wrote in the letter.

"We are calling on Nikki Fried to join the race for Chair of the Florida Democratic Party and work with us to secure victory for Florida Democrats up and down the ballot," they added.

Fried has not commented on the support, but there are already four Democrats that are vying for the leadership position.  This includes state Senator Annette Taddeo (D), who also lost in the race for congressional district 27. Taddeo has received significant support for the leadership position, which includes backing from several Democratic members of Congress and a dozen state legislators along with national DNC Finance Chair Chris Korge.

According to Taddeo's website, she's running for the position "to rebuild our party infrastructure, not just thinking in terms of two-year cycles but long term, by registering and mobilizing voters, organizing in local communities, county parties and Democratic clubs and caucuses, recruiting candidates and rebuilding our brand."

Fried pursued the 2020 Democratic nomination for the Florida Governorship, using the campaign slogan "Something New." However, Crist, who had formerly served as a Republican Governor of Florida, quickly rose as the the top contender in the race. Although Fried maintained that she could defeat Crist, she was defeated by a significant margin, and Crist went on to be defeated in the 2022 election.

Fried has told The Floridian that she was not interested in the position.