Politics

Florida Democrats select Nikki Fried as state party chair

Fried emerged the winner in a four-way contest, fending off a major challenge from former state Sen. Annette Taddeo.

Then-Agriculture Commissioner and Democratic candidate for governor Nikki Fried greets people as she visits the Versaille restaurant on Aug. 22, 2022 in Miami.

Then-Agriculture Commissioner and Democratic candidate for governor Nikki Fried greets people as she visits the Versaille restaurant on Aug. 22, 2022 in Miami. Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Nikki Fried, the last Democrat to hold a statewide office in Florida, was selected Saturday to chair the Florida Democratic Party as it looks to recover from its latest disastrous election cycle.

Fried emerged the winner in a four-way contest at the Sheraton Orlando North Hotel in Maitland on Saturday, fending off a major challenge from former state Sen. Annette Taddeo of Miami.

Fried was elected as state agriculture commissioner in 2018 but did not seek reelection last year. She lost a bid for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination to former governor and congressman Charlie Crist.

Election 2022 & other coverage –

Fried will oversee a party that has struggled with finances and voter-registration efforts, been eclipsed in the Florida Legislature and Congress and lost traction among Hispanic voters.

Following an intense campaign against Taddeo, Fried declared “the divisiveness is over.”

Fried said her goals are to end “30 years of losses” and turn Florida “blue again,” work to ensure DeSantis “is not president of the United States,” and elect more Democrats to school boards, county commissions and city councils.

“Regardless, if you voted for me or you voted for Annette, everybody has a seat at this table,” Fried said shortly after members of the Democratic Executive Committee voted to select her as their party's leader.

Before the committee voted, Taddeo promised the panel she would “be there for you no matter who wins.”

Other candidates in the race for chair were activist Carolina Ampudia, who was a former head of the party’s Progressive Caucus, and teacher and Broward County Democratic Party Chairman Rick Hoye. Just before Saturday's vote, Hoye withdrew his name and threw his support behind Fried.

Fried, who narrowly won the 2018 election, is a lawyer and former lobbyist who spent years advocating for the marijuana industry.

Fried replaces former Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, who resigned as party chairman in early January – two months after Florida Democrats suffered historic losses up and down the ballot.

From last month – Politics abhors a vacuum: Candidates line up to lead state political parties

DeSantis, viewed as a GOP presidential candidate in 2024, defeated Crist by nearly 20 percentage points and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio picked up a third term with a 16.4 percentage-point victory. Republicans also captured all three state Cabinet seats, secured supermajorities in the state House and Senate, and gained four congressional seats.

And the GOP in 2021 took the lead in voter registrations in Florida, upsetting Democrats' traditional registration edge in the state.

The Republican Party of Florida responded to Fried's victory in a press release calling the Democrat a “serial grifter.”

“Radical Nikki Fried who got walloped in the Democrat primary for governor will become the new face of a party that doesn’t even like her,” the release said. “That’s on brand for a party that clearly has no bottom.”

One of the first challenges for Fried will be to bring together progressive and moderate voices that haven’t always agreed on the direction of the state party, which has seen national party support shrivel.

Prior to Fried’s election Saturday, veteran Democratic political strategist Steve Schale said whoever replaced Diaz must have the ability to raise money, have donors’ confidence and understand the challenges in swing districts. He also predicted it will take take several election cycles to rebuild the state party.

Opinion – Steve Schale on the future of the Florida Democratic Party and selecting its next leader

“You need somebody who understands this is very likely the last political job they'll ever have,” Schale, who backed Taddeo, said during a recent episode of the Deeper Dive with Dara Kam podcast. “Whatever work is done now … is probably not going to pay dividends for two or three cycles . … I would look to the 2024 cycle as kind of getting back on the field, rebuild a good base, register voters, kind of get the confidence of donors.”

Schale also advised Democrats to first focus on local elections and to stop outsourcing voter-registration and fundraising efforts, saying consultants' “financial base is built on the idea that the Democratic Party is useless.”

In a Feb. 16 debate hosted by the Florida Legislative Black Caucus, candidates seeking to replace Diaz also spoke about rebuilding the party by maintaining full-time staff and moving away from hiring consultants. Such efforts will require hitting and maintaining fundraising goals, they said.

Fried at the time said the party needs a full-time financier, similar to the Democratic National Committee's finance chairman. She also said the state party should set up a “leadership council” that would include legislators, members of the party’s congressional delegation, donors and activists.

“We know that the road to the presidency runs through the state of Florida. We know that Ron DeSantis’ blueprint for the state, he wants to take to Washington D.C. We are that stopgap. And so we’ve got to make sure that we are using all of our voices and all of our community organizing,” she said during the debate.

This is a free News Service of Florida story for City & State Florida readers. For more of the most comprehensive and in-depth political and policy news, consider a subscription, beginning with a 10-day free trial. Click here to sign up!

NEXT STORY: Anna Eskamani says Florida Democrats – now at rock bottom – 'need to do the work'

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.