Nikki Fried says Florida is still a swing state, and Joe Biden knows it
Nikki Fried. Image via Florida Democrats Twitter.

Nikki Fried
Florida Democrats' leader said the national party still will place a priority on winning here in 2024.

Florida Democrats felt largely abandoned by the national party in 2022. But Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried expects more support next year as President Joe Biden seeks re-election.

The state leader said she’s in constant contact with Washington officials who are not only focused on Biden’s re-election, but on other critical races in the state. She said national leaders still view Florida as a swing state, something exemplified by Vice President Kamala Harris already appearing five times in Florida this year.

“I hear that in every single conversation that I have either with the President, the Vice President, with the leadership of the (Democratic National Committee), the leadership of the Biden victory campaign. Our other national partners in the Senate and Congress have all shown that Florida is not only a swing state, but a winnable state when we have invested the time and resources,” Fried said.

At the Florida Democratic Party state convention this past weekend, Fried — who took over won election as party Chair in February — sought to assure party members, elected officials and donors that the Sunshine State remains a battleground.

“You see the amount of our surrogates that continuously come back to the state,” Fried told Florida Politics. “We’ve seen just in the last three weeks, the Second Gentleman, the First Lady, numerous members of the Cabinet, and that shows their commitment to the state of Florida.”

But Fried also stressed at the convention a need for patience as the party rebuilds from troubling lows. In 2022, Democrats lost the Governor’s race by 19 percentage points and a U.S. Senate race by 17 points, both to incumbents.

The party in the last election cycle also saw Republicans eclipse Democrats in voter registrations for the first time in history. That edge has now grown to more than 626,000 as of Sept. 30.

Fried said much of the state convention this year was devoted to organizing and seeking a way to close the gaps in numbers.

“That’s a lot of what we talked about is looking at the numbers, seeing where our deficits are, and making sure we’re strategic and the analysis and then the work on the ground,” she said.

“We already are seeing that energy and already seeing that work being done, that by the end of the year, you’re going to start seeing a stopping of the bleeding and then starting the progress, which you’ll start seeing in the beginning of ’24.”

Jacob Ogles

Jacob Ogles has covered politics in Florida since 2000 for regional outlets including SRQ Magazine in Sarasota, The News-Press in Fort Myers and The Daily Commercial in Leesburg. His work has appeared nationally in The Advocate, Wired and other publications. Events like SRQ’s Where The Votes Are workshops made Ogles one of Southwest Florida’s most respected political analysts, and outlets like WWSB ABC 7 and WSRQ Sarasota have featured his insights. He can be reached at [email protected].


5 comments

  • Earl Pitts "Hey Earl's Really Not Such A Bad Guy" American

    November 1, 2023 at 11:02 am

    Good mornting America,
    Let’s allow the Dook 4 Brains Leftists in Florida to have a little break from me, Earl Pitts American, always pointing out the error of their ways and annoying them with my, Earl Pitts American’s, sage words of “Conservative Wisdom”.
    So here ya go:
    Sure Dook 4 Brains Leftys everything is just great and 73.763% of our great nation does not hate you.
    There now Dook 4 Brains Lefty’s feel better?
    Sure you do; and now that y’all have gotten happy and thinking:
    “Hey ya know that Earl Pitts American is really not such a bad guy.” “And maybe Earl will permit us to relax our sphincters”.
    Thank you Dook 4 Brains Lefty’s,
    Enjoy your day Earl Pitts American

  • Tricky Weed

    November 1, 2023 at 11:20 am

    ring…ring…yeah Earl my staff says our phones are blowing up over some stupid squeeze you said about permission to refract their inksters…Earl what in the H€II are they talking about?

  • My Take

    November 1, 2023 at 11:36 am

    Disgust with a clownish irresponsible GOPer gov embarrassìng the state on the national stage has to provide some nudge.

  • Impeach Biden

    November 2, 2023 at 5:03 am

    Nikki Fried is living proof that the Republican Party is just fine in Florida. DeSantis would have crushed her for Governor. Then again she couldn’t even beat “flip flopper” Charlie Crist. Nikki is a liberal wacko. more suited for fine communities like Portland, Chicago, Seattle, LA, San Francisco and such. You know the ones all of our new residents here are fleeing from.

  • Marshall Clayton Rawson

    November 2, 2023 at 2:15 pm

    Of what little Biden knows at this point, I am sure that its not the fallacy that Florida is a “swing state.” The only reason Florida ever appeared to be one in the first place is because the Democratic Party of Spessard Holland and even Lawton Chiles was a much more conservative party (even for its time). A political platform based on abortion, weed and victimhood is not a winning one.

Comments are closed.


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