While Fried focused early on building up her profile on social media, particularly Twitter, Crist went on a charm offensive. Just a quarter of Democrats are expected to vote. Throughout the primary, Crist methodically reached out to key constituencies for their backing, a move his campaign says helped build word of mouth and important support in what will likely be a low turnout race. “Nikki was not able to answer that one question effectively, and Charlie has.” How Crist shored up support “I think the litmus test for voters in this election is one question and one question only: Who is the best to beat Ron DeSantis,” said Fernand Amandi, a Democratic pollster. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), the former head of the Democratic National Committee and a longtime Democrat who has known Crist for 30 years.įor many Democrats, beating DeSantis is the top goal. “My gut and my experience tells me Charlie has the best shot at blocking DeSantis’s extremist agenda,” said Rep. Crist has tried to depict himself as someone who will unify Florida while accusing DeSantis of tearing apart the state. Everyone has their own style.”Īnd many top Democrats say Crist won them over with his style and approach - he’s known as a “happy warrior” who tries to avoid going negative - and is seen as the best candidate to take on DeSantis. He then added: “She’s decided to do what she’s done. “I’ve gone accurate,” retorted Crist, when asked last week about his attacks on Fried in the closing days. Fried was a marijuana lobbyist before she won her 2018 race to become the state’s agriculture commissioner. Crist for months tried to stay above the fray, but in the final weeks of the primary started attacking Fried over her ties to the business lobby and other groups long thought of as Republican-leaning, including the state’s powerful sugar industry. Throughout the primary, 44-year-old Fried has painted the 66-year-old Crist as a Democrat in name only, highlighting positions he held as a Republican that are very much outside modern Democratic orthodoxy. Kelli Skidmore, a Boca Raton Democrat who has endorsed Fried. “Nothing against other Democratic candidates, and whoever wins we will all rally around them, but I strongly feel a good Jewish girl from Broward County against someone like Ron DeSantis is something I think would be a great matchup,” said state Rep. She has also spent the past three years aggressively dogging DeSantis on issues from pandemic response to his focus on culture war issues. Since the ruling, Fried has attempted to energize voters who are incensed by the landmark decision.
Wade, an issue that helped propel abortion rights to the forefront of campaigns across the nation. Some of Fried’s supporters are perplexed that Crist is viewed as the frontrunner, especially after the Supreme Court in June struck down federal abortion protections enshrined in Roe v.
“I know if I lose, the people lose,” Fried said in a recent interview.
#WHITE PAGES FLORIDA REGISTRATION#
The electoral landscape has also shifted in Republicans’ favor - with the GOP overtaking Democrats in voter registration last fall for the first time in the state’s modern political history. DeSantis has more than $132.5 million in his campaign war chest and has amassed enormous power in the state Legislature, which routinely approves his priorities. Yet even the most hopeful Democrats are aware of the difficulty they face in November. They accuse the governor of near-authoritarian rule and routinely point out that he’s more concerned with a potential White House bid in 2024 than helping Florida residents gain access to affordable housing or fix the state’s crumbling insurance market. Ron DeSantis in November, and to many Democrats the stakes couldn’t be higher.
Whoever advances through Tuesday’s primary will take on Republican Gov. Most polls show Crist leading Fried, including one that has Crist up by double digits. Charlie Crist, the former Republican Florida governor turned independent turned Democrat, who has decades of electoral experience.Ĭrist has outraised Fried, garnered more endorsements and managed to rally chunks of the traditional Democratic Party coalition to his side, including Florida’s teachers union, the former head of the Democratic National Committee, environmental groups and Black faith leaders. Fast forward three years and Fried is heading into Tuesday’s Democratic primary for governor fighting for her political life against Rep.
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