Nikki Fried says she’s frustrated by sexist ‘double standard’ on campaign trail

Nikki Fried is on her 'closing argument' tour. Photo: A.G. Gancarski

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Nikki Fried is bringing her closing argument tour to Jacksonville Wednesday evening, in what some polls are saying is an increasingly tight race with former Gov. Charlie Crist, who has dominated throughout in terms of endorsements and fundraising.

As her speech Tuesday night in Tallahassee showed, her closing argument is very much targeted to female voters.

This is in part because of the uncertainty of the post-Dobbs reproductive health climate, but also illustrates what she perceives as a sexist double standard in how the Primary race has been framed by media, regarding recent tough reporting about a variety of issues, including her former friendship with Republican Matt Gaetz and other negative stories that have surfaced at inconvenient times.

“Absolutely a double standard,” Fried told Florida Politics during an interview in Jacksonville’s Springfield neighborhood.

“That’s why it’s also important that a woman gets elected Governor, to break that glass ceiling. Because the sexism that we feel on an everyday basis, asking if I’m qualified, asking if I’m electable. Those are not questions that get asked to male counterparts,” Fried contended, before suggesting many of her critics ignore her track record over the last four years.

“And the fact of the matter is I’m a statewide elected officer, a member of the Florida Cabinet, overseeing a $1.9 billion agency with 4,600 employees,” Fried recounted. “I’ve been a practicing attorney for almost 19 years.”

“I’m more than qualified. I’m more than electable. I’m the only one who has actually been elected in this race as a Democrat,” Fried added. “There has been a double standard. Charlie was a Republican for most of his career.”

Fried noted the “double standard” definitely applied in this case.

“The decisions he made when he was a Republican Governor, Republican Attorney General, Republican Commissioner of Education, Republican Senator are having drastic impacts today,” Fried said.

Fried has tied issues like parental notification about underage abortions to Crist increasingly of late, saying Crist once said that law “is one of his signature ‘pro-life’ achievements.”

While most polls still show Crist ahead, one public survey this week suggested Fried is surging at the most important time in this campaign. A statewide poll from the University of North Florida’s Public Opinion Research Lab showed Fried ahead of Crist, 47% to 43%.

That lead is seven points with voters who see the future of legalized abortion as a major issue, speaking to the salience of the reproductive rights messaging. Female voters generally break to Fried here, 55% to 35%, while Crist is 17 points up with men.