Credit: Tori Lynn Schneider/Tallahassee Democrat via Imagn Content Services, LLC
Syndication: Tallahassee Democrat
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, the only statewide-elected Democrat in Florida, announced a run for governor on Tuesday, setting up a primary against Democratic U.S. Representative Charlie Crist.
Fried announced her run in a video posted on Twitter where she says she will fight the Sunshine State’s “rigged system” which she says is corrupt and anti-Democratic, pledging to take on a variety of issues like health care, education, wages, and marijuana legalization.
It’s time to break the rigged, corrupt system in Florida with #SomethingNew.
That’s why I’m running for Governor.
Join us at https://t.co/pSDjoC7HWW. pic.twitter.com/Vzb1MnBuSB— Nikki Fried (@NikkiFried) June 1, 2021
“We can build a state that gives power back to you,” Fried said in the video. “Listen, this won’t be easy. Those in power will do whatever harm it takes to stay there. But I have spent my whole life taking on the system. I am unafraid, I’m tested, I am ready.”
She added: “I’m Nikki Fried, an underestimated Floridian like you. And I’m asking you to break the system by electing me the next governor of the state of Florida.”
She’ll face Crist, who was elected Governor in 2006, in the primary. Crist also ran for U.S. Senate in 2010 as an independent, losing to Republican Marco Rubio. He ran for governor in in 2014 as a Democrat, but lost out to Republican Rick Scott. He then ran for a seat in the House of Representatives and was elected in 2016.
Democrats are trying to take on current Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is said to be considering a presidential run in 2024 and whose profile has risen in recent years due to being connected to former President Donald Trump.
