As Florida Democrats discuss rebuilding, Nikki Fried announces run for party chairperson

[In It to Win It]

Tampa Bay Times

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Nikki Fried, the former Florida commissioner of agriculture who unsuccessfully ran in 2022 to be the Democratic nominee for governor, announced Monday that she’s vying to be the next chairperson of the Florida Democratic Party.

In a news release, Fried said Florida Democrats need to “rededicate ourselves to voter registration, training, and growing our progressive coalitions.” The news comes as a reversal; Fried had previously said she would not be running for chairperson, but several local Democratic leaders expressed a desire for her to jump in.

“I am determined to rebuild the trust of national committees and I will dedicate the full weight of the Party to quality candidate recruitment and to reforming our antiquated weighted vote system and bylaws which too often exclude rather than include,” she said. “Florida Democratic Party Chair was not the path I had originally envisioned for myself, but too much is at stake to sit on the sidelines — from women’s rights, economic opportunity and climate change to affordable housing, protecting our Democracy and education.”

It won’t be an easy job. The previous party chairperson, Manny Diaz, abruptly resigned last month with a scathing letter accusing his own party of dysfunction and “long-standing, systemic and deeply entrenched culture resistant to change.”