Nikki Fried hopes ‘blue wave’ can save Dems in Ag Commissioner race

Democrats will be hard pressed to keep FDACS blue, but Fried holds out hope.

Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, currently a candidate for Governor, is hoping a “blue wave” elevates the eventual Democratic Ag Commissioner nominee to what would be an upset victory in November.

The Democratic field includes three candidates, two of which have had issues documented in the lead-up to the Primary that could be weaponized in the General Election.

Naomi Blemur saw her endorsements dry up after scabrous social media posts of hers were highlighted. Ryan Morales has attempted to contextualize reports of domestic turmoil he calls “the recent exploitation of a deeply personal family member” by a blog. A third candidate, J.R. Gaillot, has not dealt with oppo dumps, but has never caught on with voters in previous runs over the last decade.

There does not appear to be a candidate who can win the General Election against Senate President Wilton Simpson, the expected GOP nominee who has more than $4 million in cash on hand between his campaign account and his Friends of Wilton Simpson political committee.

But Fried holds out hope despite the problems with the Primary field that larger dynamics, including people agreeing that the GOP has been “radicalized,” can lift Democratic chances in the November election.

“Look, no candidate is perfect,” Fried acknowledged. “Democratic side, Republican side.”

“Everybody fights for what they think is right,” Fried added. “If we see a blue wave, which I think is going to come, the Republican Party has been radicalized, has gone so extreme you have a Governor who is campaigning across the nation for election deniers and antisemites.”

“If the state of Florida wakes up and realizes that Ron DeSantis and his Republican Party of Florida are extremist and dangerous for the state, then we are going to see people — not just Democrats but Republicans and Independents — are going to vote for Democrats because they’re tired of a one-party system in our state that has become so radicalized,” Fried said.

Whichever Democrat emerges to ride the blue wave Fried forecasts, they will start off the General Election cash poor. Naomi Blemur and J.R. Gaillot each have less than $6,000 on hand, and Ryan Morales has under $5,000 in the bank.