Pulling Florida Democrats Back From the Brink

The day after the May 16 Jacksonville city election, Sunshine State Democratic Party honcho Nikki Fried tweeted, “Good morning from the purple, swing state of Florida.”

A bold, somewhat exaggerated claim considering Florida has been swathed in red since Republicans trounced virtually every Democrat on the ballot during the 2022 midterm elections. But Miami native Fried had reason for gloating.

Not only did Donna Deegan pull an upset by edging out her Republican opponent to become Jacksonville’s second Democratic mayor in three decades, but liberals also picked up four city council seats. And Democrat Joyce Morgan won a squeaker runoff to become the first Black woman to serve as Duval County’s property appraiser.

The surprising results in the GOP-heavy county was a primer for what’s coming from the Florida Democratic Party under her watch, Fried told the Biscayne Times in a recent phone interview.

“It was a boost in the arm of the Florida Democratic Party,” she said. “When Democrats have the right candidates, are organized and talk about issues impacting people, we can win. It certainly helps us in the national conversation that Florida is still in play.”

Fried’s optimistic outlook aside, she and Florida Democrats still face a daunting effort to reverse the gains made by the Republican Party since 2018, when Ron DeSantis won a nail-biter for the governor’s office, and when Fried was the only Democrat to lock in a cabinet post as agriculture commissioner.

“I think the last couple of chairs had difficult circumstances to deal with,” Joe Geller, a Democratic former state legislator representing north Miami-Dade, told the Times. “Nikki steps in and she is also facing a tough climb.”

Fried Takes Over

In January, former Miami Mayor Manny Diaz quit as the state party’s chairman, two years after he took on the role and promised to make Democrats competitive. Yet, since 2021, the GOP has surpassed Democrats in the voter registration game, according to data from the Florida Division of Elections. As of April 30, Florida has 5.3 million registered Republican voters compared to 4.8 million registered Democrats.

Miami-Dade, long considered a Democratic stronghold in major state and national races, went Republican as DeSantis became the first GOP gubernatorial candidate to win the county in two decades. In 2018, he lost Miami-Dade by 20 points.

Diaz resignation two years before his term was up came amid criticism from party leaders and rank-and-file Democrats that he was disengaged from following through on his plan to improve vote-by-mail and voter registration efforts, according to Politico. On his way out the door, he released a memo blasting the Democratic National Committee for abandoning Florida. He noted that the national party spent $2 million in the state for the 2022 midterm elections compared to $60 million in the 2018 cycle.

“It is impossible to ‘rebuild’ an organization without resources,” Diaz wrote. “Huge sums of money continue to be outside the control of the FDP.”

Fried, who handily lost the 2022 Democratic gubernatorial primary to Charlie Crist, jumped into the competition for the state party’s chairmanship after initially indicating she was not interested in the job, according to media reports. On Feb. 25, she won a bitterly heated battle against Annette Taddeo, the Colombian American former state senator who briefly ran for the party’s gubernatorial nomination before switching to a congressional race that she lost by 15 points. Taddeo declined comment for this story.

Unlike her predecessor, Fried has taken a more confrontational approach against DeSantis and the Republican majority in the state Legislature. On social media, she is constantly firing broadsides at the governor and his allies over hard-right legislation targeting diversity, inclusion and equality in public schools and higher education, and laws denying transgender teens from obtaining gender affirming medical care and making it a crime for children to attend drag shows.

And her most forceful public rebuke of Florida’s GOP agenda occurred in early April, when Fried, Democratic State Sen. Lauren Book and several activists were arrested outside the Florida State Capitol during a sit-in protest against a new six-week abortion ban.

The state Democratic party’s social media engagement and communications under Fried has vastly improved, said Thomas Kennedy, a Miami activist and a Democratic National Committee member.

“The party has more of a presence,” Kennedy said. “The rapid response is better. They put out press releases in a timely manner. I know that bar is low, but that is where we are at.”

It’s too early to judge Fried on more substantial accomplishments, such as reengaging Florida voters and driving up Democratic registrations, Kennedy said. The wins in Jacksonville were a good start, but it’s going to be tough carrying that momentum into 2024, he added.

“It was a tough race, but it was one we should win,” Kennedy said. “Jacksonville and Duval County have been trending blue.”

Florida & National Dems Reconnect

Other party faithful see signs of a renewed relationship between the Florida Democratic Party and the Democratic National Committee. Shortly after taking over, Fried toured the state with DNC chairman Jaime Harrison, and played a key role in recent visits to Florida by Vice President Kamala Harris and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, said Juan Peñalosa, a Miami-based political consultant and former executive director of the state Democratic Party.

The tours were coupled with fundraising events that boosted the anemic coffers of the Florida Democratic Party, Peñalosa added.

“They raised a significant amount of money for a party that has been strapped for cash,” he said. “Nikki was able to get that done.”

Shortly after President Joe Biden announced he was running for reelection, his campaign launched its second television ad in Florida, spending seven figures, Peñalosa said.

“All of that points to a level of attention that Nikki has been able to bring back to the state,” he said. “It shows Florida is a priority for the Democratic Party.”

Bringing the national party back to Florida was among her key priorities when she decided to run to lead the state party, Fried told the Times.

“Since I was elected as chair, I am in constant communication with the DNC, Jaime and members of his team,” she said. “I make calls and speak to donors every single day. They are waking up to the necessity of investing in Florida. We feel very confident that we will get the resources and funds we need to be competitive in our state.”

At the top of her to-do list was helping Deegan cross the finish line in the

Jacksonville mayoral runoff against Daniel Davis, the Republican former CEO of the city’s chamber of commerce who had DeSantis’ endorsement.

“It was my No. 1 thing to pull all our energy and resources to win in Duval,” Fried said. “To get momentum in our corner, we had to pick up this win.”

As the 2024 campaign season ramps up, the state Democratic party is focused on boosting voter registration and engagement, Fried added.

“We are making sure we are going back to the basics of doing the work on the ground,” she said. “Our goal is to make sure we are competitive in all 67 counties.”

A Miami-Dade Win Is Crucial

Between now and 2024, the Florida Democratic Party doesn’t have any high-profile races to take advantage of, Peñalosa said. So there will be an intense focus on turning Miami-Dade back to blue for Biden and reelecting Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, he said.

While the county mayoral race is nonpartisan, Levine Cava has carved a reputation as a progressive Democrat. Her possible opponents include heavy-hitting Republicans such as Hialeah Mayor Esteban Bovo, who lost the runoff against Levine Cava in 2020, and Lt. Gov. Jeannette Nuñez.

“In Miami-Dade, that is at the top of people’s minds,” Peñalosa said. “How do you bring the resources and the talent to get Daniella over the finish line and make sure she stays in her seat? That’s a challenge when the Florida GOP has turned into a juggernaut and the Florida Democratic Party has some rebuilding to do.”

Fried insists the state Democratic party is laser-focused on flipping Miami-Dade in 2024.

“We have not been performing well,” she said. “I will do everything in my power so that the (Miami-Dade) Democratic Party is engaging and finding candidates for all the offices on the ballot, from commission seats to congressional seats. The party will have a big footprint in Miami-Dade going into the election cycle.”