Nicole Heather Fried ( ; born December 13, 1977) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the chair of the
Florida Democratic Party
The Florida Democratic Party (FDP) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Florida, headquartered in Tallahassee. Former mayor of Miami Manny Diaz Sr. is the current chair.
Andrew Jackson, the first territorial governor o ...
since 2023. Prior to her election as chair, Fried served as the 12th
Florida commissioner of agriculture
The commissioner of agriculture is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of government of the U.S. state of Florida that heads the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS). Elected for a four-year mandate that is ...
from 2019 to 2023. A member of the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
, Fried graduated from the
University of Florida
The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...
in 2003. She has previously practiced various forms of law, including
corporate law,
foreclosure defense, and
public defense
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...
. Fried has also been a prominent
lobbyist
In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...
for the
marijuana industry in the state of
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
.
She won the
2018 Florida commissioner of agriculture election
The 2018 Florida Commissioner of Agriculture election occurred on November 6, 2018, to elect the Florida Commissioner of Agriculture. Incumbent Republican Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam was term-limited and could not seek a third consecu ...
, narrowly defeating state representative
Matt Caldwell
Matthew H. Caldwell (born August 12, 1981) is an American Republican politician and a former member of the Florida House of Representatives, representing the 79th District, which includes northern Lee County, stretching from Lehigh Acres to No ...
by less than 7,000 votes out of over eight million votes cast, a margin of 0.08%. Fried is the first woman to be elected to the position and was the only Democrat to win a statewide race in the
2018 Florida elections
A general election was held in the U.S. state of Florida on November 6, 2018. All of Florida's executive officers were up for election as well as Florida's Class I Senate seat and all 27 seats in the United States House of Representatives. Pr ...
. During her tenure, she redesigned gas pump stickers, promoted a
Florida gun law bill, partook in ''
Florida v. Georgia'' over waters within the
ACF River Basin
The ACF River Basin is the drainage basin, or watershed, of the Apalachicola River, Chattahoochee River, and Flint River, in the Southeastern United States.
This area is alternatively known as simply the Apalachicola Basin and is listed by t ...
, and appointed two lobbyists for the Florida Sugar Cane League.
Fried was selected as one of 17 speakers to jointly deliver the
keynote
A keynote in public speaking is a talk that establishes a main underlying theme. In corporate or commercial settings, greater importance is attached to the delivery of a keynote speech or keynote address. The keynote establishes the framework fo ...
address at the
2020 Democratic National Convention
The 2020 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention that was held from August 17 to 20, 2020, at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and virtually across the United States. At the convention, delegates of ...
. She did not seek re-election in 2022, instead running in the
2022 Florida gubernatorial election
The 2022 Florida gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 2022, to elect the governor of Florida, alongside other state and local elections. Incumbent Republican Party governor Ron DeSantis won re-election in a landslide, defeating the ...
. Fried was defeated in the Democratic primary by U.S. representative and former Republican governor
Charlie Crist
Charles Joseph Crist Jr. (; born July 24, 1956) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 44th governor of Florida from 2007 to 2011 and as the U.S. representative for from 2017 to 2022. Crist has been a member of the Democratic ...
.
Early life and education
Nicole Heather Fried was born December 13, 1977, in
Miami, Florida
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
, to Ronald, an attorney, and Lori, a stay-at-home mother. Her parents divorced when she was 13, leaving Fried and her younger sister to be raised primarily by their mother, who became a preschool teacher after the divorce. Fried graduated from
Miami Palmetto High School
, motto_translation = Strength through knowledge
, established =
, closed =
, type = Public secondary
, status =
, category_label =
, category ...
.
Fried graduated from the
University of Florida
The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...
, where she was
student body president
The student government president (sometimes called "student ''body'' president," "student ''council'' president" or "''school'' president") is generally the highest-ranking officer of a student union. While a student government group and a class p ...
and a member of
Florida Blue Key
Florida Blue Key is a student leadership honor society at the University of Florida which was founded in 1923.
History
Founding and early years
"Florida Blue Key was founded on November 1, 1923, several days prior to the University's Homecom ...
, receiving her
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
in
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
and her
master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. in
political campaigning
A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referend ...
.
In 2003, she received her
Juris Doctor
The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law
and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...
from the University of Florida.
Career
After graduating, Fried worked at the law firm of
Holland & Knight
Holland & Knight LLP is an American multinational law firm with more than 1,700 lawyers and other professionals in 35 offices in the United States, Europe, Latin America, and North Africa. Headquartered in Tampa, Florida, the firm provides repre ...
in
Jacksonville
Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...
, alongside
Ashley Moody
Ashley Brooke Moody (born March 28, 1975) is an American attorney and politician serving as the Florida attorney general since January 2019.
During her tenure as Florida attorney general, Moody has supported lawsuits to invalidate the Affordable ...
, a friend of Fried from the University of Florida who would later serve alongside her as the
Florida Attorney General
The Florida attorney general is an elected cabinet official in the U.S. state of Florida. The attorney general serves as the chief legal officer of the state and is head of the Florida Department of Legal Affairs.
The office is one of Florida's t ...
.
Unhappy working as a
corporate lawyer
A corporate lawyer or corporate counsel is a type of lawyer who specializes in corporate law. Corporate lawyers working inside and for corporations are called in-house counsel.
Roles and responsibilities
The role of a corporate lawyer is to ...
, Fried left Holland & Knight in 2006 and became a
public defender
A public defender is a lawyer appointed to represent people who otherwise cannot reasonably afford to hire a lawyer to defend themselves in a trial. Several countries provide people with public defenders, including the UK, Hungary and Singapore, ...
for
Florida's 8th circuit court, which covers much of
North Central Florida
North Central Florida is a region of the U.S. state of Florida which comprises the north-central part of the state and encompasses the North Florida counties of Alachua, Marion, Putnam, Bradford, Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Lafayet ...
, including
Alachua County
Alachua County ( ) is a county in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 278,468. The county seat is Gainesville, the home of the University of Florida since 1906, when the campus ope ...
.
Fried was a
foreclosure defense lawyer from 2009 until 2011, when she joined the law and lobbying firm of Colodny Fass.
Among her major clients as a lobbyist were the
Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority
Hillsborough Area Regional Transit (also known as the Hillsborough Transit Authority (HART)) provides public transportation for Hillsborough County, Florida, Hillsborough County, Florida. The agency provides fixed-route local and express bus serv ...
, the
Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
,
Duke Energy
Duke Energy Corporation is an American electric power and natural gas holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Overview
Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Duke Energy owns 58,200 megawatts of base-load and peak generation in ...
, and
HCA Healthcare
HCA Healthcare is an American for-profit operator of health care facilities that was founded in 1968. It is based in Nashville, Tennessee, and, as of May 2020, owns and operates 186 hospitals and approximately 2,000 sites of care, including sur ...
.
In 2016, Fried established her own lobbying firm, called Igniting Florida, in
Broward County
Broward County ( , ) is a county in the southeastern part of Florida, located in the Miami metropolitan area. It is Florida's second-most populous county after Miami-Dade County and the 17th-most populous in the United States, with over 1.94 ...
. Her main clients were the
School Board of Broward County and the statewide
medical marijuana
Medical cannabis, or medical marijuana (MMJ), is cannabis and cannabinoids that are prescribed by physicians for their patients. The use of cannabis as medicine has not been rigorously tested due to production and governmental restrictions ...
industry, which had recently blossomed following the passage of
Florida Amendment 2, which legalized medical marijuana, in the 2016 elections.
Florida commissioner of agriculture and consumer services
2018 election
![Official photo of Nikki Fried](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Official_photo_of_Nikki_Fried.jpg)
Fried won the
Democratic nomination for
Florida commissioner of agriculture
The commissioner of agriculture is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of government of the U.S. state of Florida that heads the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS). Elected for a four-year mandate that is ...
in
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
, easily defeating Jeff Porter, the mayor of
Homestead
Homestead may refer to:
*Homestead (buildings), a farmhouse and its adjacent outbuildings; by extension, it can mean any small cluster of houses
*Homestead (unit), a unit of measurement equal to 160 acres
*Homestead principle, a legal concept th ...
and R. David Walker, an environmental activist, despite her primary opponents criticizing her for her past campaign contributions to
Republicans
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
.
In the general election, Fried faced off against the Republican nominee
Matt Caldwell
Matthew H. Caldwell (born August 12, 1981) is an American Republican politician and a former member of the Florida House of Representatives, representing the 79th District, which includes northern Lee County, stretching from Lehigh Acres to No ...
, a
state representative
A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system.
Two federations literally use the term "state legislature":
* The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...
from
North Fort Myers
North Fort Myers is an unincorporated area and census-designated place (CDP) in Lee County, Florida, United States. The population was 42,719 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Geo ...
. Fried ran on a platform in favor of removing obstacles to
medical marijuana
Medical cannabis, or medical marijuana (MMJ), is cannabis and cannabinoids that are prescribed by physicians for their patients. The use of cannabis as medicine has not been rigorously tested due to production and governmental restrictions ...
in Florida. She described herself as "a fierce advocate for expanding access to medical marijuana for suffering Floridians",
and called for placing regulation of medical marijuana under the jurisdiction of the
Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) is an executive department of the government of Florida.
The Commissioner of Agriculture (directly elected by voters statewide for a four-year term, and a member of the Florida ...
rather than the
Florida Department of Health
The Florida Department of Health is responsible for protecting the public health and safety of the residents and visitors of the state of Florida. It is a cabinet-level agency of the state government, headed by a state surgeon general who reports ...
.
During the campaign, Fried also pledged to "ensure full background checks are completed on gun permits",
a task which falls under the jurisdiction of the Florida Department of Agriculture.
Fried endorsed
Amendment 4, a
ballot initiative
In political science, an initiative (also known as a popular initiative or citizens' initiative) is a means by which a petition signed by a certain number of registered voters can force a government to choose either to enact a law or hold a pu ...
which restores
voting rights
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...
for
felons
A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resul ...
, excluding murderers and felony sex offenders.
On August 19, 2018,
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...
announced it was closing Fried's campaign bank account because of her ties with medical marijuana. Fried's campaign transferred the $137,000 in the account to a new bank account with
BB&T
BB&T Corporation (previously known as the Branch Banking and Trust Company) was one of the largest banking and financial services firms in the United States, based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. In 2019, BB&T announced its intentions to merge ...
. However, on August 29, 2018, BB&T also announced the closure of Fried's campaign bank account on the same grounds.
Fried was endorsed by the ''
Tampa Bay Times
The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single y ...
'',
the ''
Sun Sentinel
The ''Sun Sentinel'' (also known as the ''South Florida Sun Sentinel'', known until 2008 as the ''Sun-Sentinel'', and stylized on its masthead as ''SunSentinel'') is the main daily newspaper of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as well as surrounding Br ...
'', and the ''
Palm Beach Post
''The Palm Beach Post'' is an American daily newspaper serving Palm Beach County in South Florida, and parts of the Treasure Coast. On March 18, 2018, in a deal worth US$42.35 million, ''The Palm Beach Post'' and ''The Palm Beach Daily News'' we ...
''. Fried also received the endorsements of the
Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is an environmental organization with chapters in all 50 United States, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, who be ...
,
Equality Florida
Equality Florida is a political advocacy group that advocates for civil rights and protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) residents of the U.S. state of Florida.
Equality Florida consists of two organizations - Equ ...
,
Everytown for Gun Safety
Everytown for Gun Safety is an American nonprofit organization which advocates for gun control and against gun violence. Everytown was created in 2013 when Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America joined force ...
, and the
Brady Campaign
Brady: United Against Gun Violence (formerly “Handgun Control, Inc”., the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence) is an American nonprofit organization that advocates for gun control and against ...
, while Caldwell received the endorsements of business and industry groups, including the Florida Farm Bureau, the
Florida Chamber of Commerce The Florida Chamber of Commerce is an organization devoted to the advocacy of private businesses in the state of Florida.
This Chamber originated in 1912, and included its first continuing group in 1916, the ''Florida Tick Eradication Committee''.h ...
, and the Associated Industries of Florida.
Fried defeated Caldwell by an extremely narrow margin. While initial returns on
Election Day
Election day or polling day is the day on which general elections are held. In many countries, general elections are always held on a Saturday or Sunday, to enable as many voters as possible to participate; while in other countries elections ar ...
showed Caldwell in the lead, by the completion of the count, Fried had narrowly taken the lead with a margin of just 0.06% of votes separating the two candidates.
Following both a machine recount and a manual recount, Fried ultimately defeated Caldwell by 6,753 votes (0.08%) out of over eight million votes cast. Fried became the first Democrat to win the Florida Commissioner of Agriculture position since 1998, as well as becoming the only woman elected to the position. She was also the only Democratic candidate to win a statewide race in Florida in 2018.
Tenure
![11th Annual Climate Summit - Hosted by Monroe County](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/11th_Annual_Climate_Summit_-_Hosted_by_Monroe_County.jpg)
Shortly after entering office in 2019, Fried's office redesigned the Florida Department of Agriculture's certified
gas pump
A gasoline pump is a machine at a filling station that is used to pump gasoline (petrol), diesel, or other types of liquid fuel into vehicles. Gasoline pumps are also known as bowsers or petrol bowsers (in Australia), petrol pumps (in Commo ...
stickers, which verify to customers the gas pump is state approved. Previous commissioners had put their own names on the stickers for decades, but Fried was the first to put a color photograph of herself on the sticker. The
Republican Party of Florida
The Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) is the affiliate of the Republican Party in the U.S. state of Florida. It is currently the state's favored party, controlling the majority of Florida's U.S. House seats, both U.S. Senate seats, supermajori ...
accused Fried of using taxpayer funds to increase her political exposure, and the
Florida Legislature
The Florida Legislature is the legislature of the U.S. State of Florida. It is organized as a bicameral body composed of an upper chamber, the Senate, and a lower chamber, the House of Representatives. Article III, Section 1 of the Florida Cons ...
quickly passed a law limiting the taxpayer-funded stickers to only "a combination of lettering, numbering, words, or the department logo". The stickers were quickly replaced with a new design that did not have her photograph.
Fried opposed the
United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement
The Agreement between the United States of America, the United Mexican States, and Canada (USMCA) Commonly known as the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) in the United States and the Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement (CU ...
, the
free trade agreement
A free-trade agreement (FTA) or treaty is an agreement according to international law to form a free-trade area between the cooperating states. There are two types of trade agreements: bilateral and multilateral. Bilateral trade agreements occur ...
that officially replaced the 1994
North American Free Trade Agreement
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA ; es, Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte, TLCAN; french: Accord de libre-échange nord-américain, ALÉNA) was an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States that crea ...
, on the basis that it contained insufficient protections for Florida farmers.
Fried also crafted legislation with Democratic state representative
Javier Fernandez targeting
Florida gun laws. The bill, HB 809, would have required retention of
fingerprint
A fingerprint is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. The recovery of partial fingerprints from a crime scene is an important method of forensic science. Moisture and grease on a finger result in fingerprints on surfac ...
records, require proof of completion of
firearms safety training for a license to be renewed and reduce the term for a
concealed-weapons permit from seven to five years. It did not pass the legislature in 2019.
In August 2019, the Florida Department of Agriculture appointed two registered lobbyists for the Florida Sugar Cane League to consult on the
Lake Okeechobee
Lake Okeechobee (), also known as Florida's Inland Sea, is the largest freshwater lake in the U.S. state of Florida. It is the tenth largest natural freshwater lake among the 50 states of the United States and the second-largest natural freshwat ...
System Operating Manual Project Delivery Team, which was set to advise the
on procedures for lake levels.
Environmentalists called for lake levels to be lowered to prevent harmful discharges and
red tide
A harmful algal bloom (HAB) (or excessive algae growth) is an algal bloom that causes negative impacts to other organisms by production of natural phycotoxin, algae-produced toxins, mechanical damage to other organisms, or by other means. HABs are ...
s, while the
sugar industry
The sugar industry subsumes the production, processing and marketing of sugars (mostly sucrose and fructose). Globally, most sugar is extracted from sugar cane (~80% predominantly in the tropics) and sugar beet (~ 20%, mostly in temperate cli ...
advocated for keeping levels high to avoid the threat of low water supply for farmers and municipalities. Republican
U.S. representative
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...
Brian Mast
Brian Jeffery Mast (born July 10, 1980) is an American politician and U.S. military veteran who has served as the U.S. representative for Florida's 21st congressional district since 2017. The district, numbered as the 18th district from 2017 t ...
, whose district includes part of Lake Okeechobee, sent a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers seeking the lobbyists' removal, alleging the appointments were an attempt to force sugar industry influence into the process. Seven Florida environmental groups, including
Friends of the Everglades
Friends of the Everglades is a conservationist and activist organization in the United States whose mission is to "preserve, protect, and restore the only Everglades in the world." The book ''Biosphere 2000: Protecting Our Global Environment'' re ...
and Everglades Trust, called for the members to be removed and criticized their appointment.
While Fried originally defended the appointments as expert consultants, she later fired their consulting firm and removed them from working on the project.
![Ceremonial Cabinet Meeting](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/Ceremonial_Cabinet_Meeting.jpg)
In December 2019, Fried abstained from a
cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filing ...
vote for the nominee for commissioner of the Florida Office of Financial Regulation, Russell Weigel. However, Florida state law states that cabinet officials can not abstain from cabinet votes unless there is a conflict of interest. Fried said she had concerns over the transparency of the nomination and said her interpretation of the law did not mandate her to vote yes or no.
In 2020, Fried's office requested and was granted federal waivers to provide
free meals
Free may refer to:
Concept
* Freedom, having the ability to do something, without having to obey anyone/anything
* Freethought, a position that beliefs should be formed only on the basis of logic, reason, and empiricism
* Emancipate, to proc ...
to students, despite schools being closed because of the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.
Later in 2020, Fried partly delivered the
keynote address
A keynote in public speaking is a talk that establishes a main underlying theme. In corporate or commercial settings, greater importance is attached to the delivery of a keynote speech or keynote address. The keynote establishes the framework f ...
at the
2020 Democratic National Convention
The 2020 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention that was held from August 17 to 20, 2020, at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and virtually across the United States. At the convention, delegates of ...
, joining 16 other speakers designated as "rising stars".
Fried critiqued President
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
's response to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, and reiterated the Democratic Party's commitment to fighting
climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
.
''Florida v. Georgia''
Beginning in 2018, Fried was engaged in a lawsuit against the state of
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
, claiming it was siphoning too much water for use from the
Flint River
The Flint River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 15, 2011 river in the U.S. state of Georgia. The river drains of western Georgia, flowing south from the u ...
, a part of the
Apalachicola River
The Apalachicola River is a river, approximately 160 mi (180 km) long in the state of Florida. The river's large watershed, known as the ACF River Basin, drains an area of approximately into the Gulf of Mexico. The distance to its fa ...
system, which flows south into Florida before draining into
Apalachicola Bay Apalachicola may refer to:
* Apalachicola people, a group of Native Americans who lived along the Apalachicola River in present-day Florida
Places
*Apalachicola, Florida
*Apalachicola River
*Apalachicola Bay
*Apalachicola National Forest
*Apalachi ...
. The lawsuit alleged that Georgia's use of too much water caused an increase in
salinity
Salinity () is the saltiness or amount of salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water (see also soil salinity). It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg (grams of salt per liter/kilogram of water; the latter is dimensionless and equal ...
in the
Apalachicola Bay Apalachicola may refer to:
* Apalachicola people, a group of Native Americans who lived along the Apalachicola River in present-day Florida
Places
*Apalachicola, Florida
*Apalachicola River
*Apalachicola Bay
*Apalachicola National Forest
*Apalachi ...
estuary, subsequently causing the collapse of the estuary's
oyster
Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not al ...
fishery
Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a. fishing ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, both ...
, resulting in income and job losses of 98% of the value of Florida's oyster industry.
The lawsuit, initiated by the state of Florida in 2013 following a
series of droughts, was dismissed in 2016 by
special master
In the law of the United States, a special master is generally a subordinate official appointed by a judge to ensure judicial orders are followed, or in the alternative, to hear evidence on behalf of the judge and make recommendations to the jud ...
appointed by the
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
. However, the Supreme Court ruled 5–4 in
''Florida v. Georgia'' (2018) that the case should be reheard and reviewed.
In April 2021, the Supreme Court ruled 9–0 in favor of Georgia in
''Florida v. Georgia'' (2021). The unanimous opinion, written by Justice
Amy Coney Barrett
Amy Vivian Coney Barrett (born January 28, 1972) is an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. The fifth woman to serve on the court, she was nominated by President Donald Trump and has served since October 27, 2020. S ...
, stated that Fried had not provided sufficient evidence that Georgia's water use had resulted in the oyster fisheries' collapse.
Fried had chosen not to present the testimony of either
oceanographers
Oceanography (), also known as oceanology and ocean science, is the scientific study of the oceans. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of topics, including ecosystem dynamics; ocean currents, Wind wave, waves, and geophysical flu ...
or
marine biologists
Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms in the sea. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology classifie ...
, instead relying only on reports from
hydrologists
Hydrology () is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth and other planets, including the water cycle, water resources, and environmental watershed sustainability. A practitioner of hydrology is call ...
and
statisticians
A statistician is a person who works with theoretical or applied statistics. The profession exists in both the private and public sectors.
It is common to combine statistical knowledge with expertise in other subjects, and statisticians may wor ...
.
2022 Florida gubernatorial election
On June 1, 2021, Fried declared her candidacy for
governor of Florida
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...
in the
2022 Florida gubernatorial election
The 2022 Florida gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 2022, to elect the governor of Florida, alongside other state and local elections. Incumbent Republican Party governor Ron DeSantis won re-election in a landslide, defeating the ...
. She lost to
Charlie Crist
Charles Joseph Crist Jr. (; born July 24, 1956) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 44th governor of Florida from 2007 to 2011 and as the U.S. representative for from 2017 to 2022. Crist has been a member of the Democratic ...
, a
U.S. representative
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...
and the former governor of Florida, in the Democratic primary.
Before her entry into the race, Fried heavily criticized DeSantis, calling him an "
authoritarian
Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic votin ...
dictator who is borderline
fascist
Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...
", and attacked him for his response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as his signing of an
election reform bill that she called
voter suppression
Voter suppression is a strategy used to influence the outcome of an election by discouraging or preventing specific groups of people from voting. It is distinguished from political campaigning in that campaigning attempts to change likely voting ...
. Fried also criticized the "rigged system in Florida", which she called corrupt and
anti-democratic.
Fried differentiated herself from Crist, who has been a politician since his election to the
Florida Senate
The Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida House of Representatives being the lower house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted ...
in 1992, by taking the campaign slogan "Something New". She described Crist's former affiliation with the Republican Party and criticized him for his support for
tough-on-crime
In modern politics, law and order is the approach focusing on harsher enforcement and penalties as ways to reduce crime. Penalties for perpetrators of disorder may include longer terms of imprisonment, mandatory sentencing, three-strikes laws a ...
legislation throughout his career.
Fried blamed Crist for creating Florida's contemporary unemployment system, which collapsed during the COVID-19 pandemic; however, the system was not created by Crist, but by his gubernatorial successor
Rick Scott
Richard Lynn Scott ( Myers, born December 1, 1952) is an American politician serving as the junior United States senator from Florida since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he was the 45th governor of Florida from 2011 to 2019.
Scott ...
.
Chair of Florida Democratic Party
On April 3, 2023, Fried, now the chair of the
Florida Democratic Party
The Florida Democratic Party (FDP) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Florida, headquartered in Tallahassee. Former mayor of Miami Manny Diaz Sr. is the current chair.
Andrew Jackson, the first territorial governor o ...
, was arrested alongside
Lauren Book
Lauren Frances Book (born October 12, 1984) is an American politician and former educator who has served in the Florida Senate since 2016, representing parts of Broward County. A member of the Democratic Party, she has been the Senate's minority ...
, the minority leader of the
Florida Senate
The Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida House of Representatives being the lower house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted ...
, following a protest of an anti-abortion bill being considered by state lawmakers.
The bill would ban abortions after six weeks.
Fried and ten others were arrested for trespassing after the
Tallahassee Police Department
The Tallahassee Police Department (TPD), provides public safety services for the city of Tallahassee, Florida, United States. Within the department, there are twelve primary divisions: The Chief of Police, Internal Affairs, Development Bureau, In ...
instructed them to disperse by sunset, which they did not do.
Electoral history
Personal life
Fried is vocal about her practice of
Judaism
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...
. While in high school, she was a participant in
B'nai B'rith
B'nai B'rith International (, from he, בְּנֵי בְּרִית, translit=b'né brit, lit=Children of the Covenant) is a Jewish service organization. B'nai B'rith states that it is committed to the security and continuity of the Jewish peopl ...
, a Jewish
service organization
A service club or service organization is a voluntary nonprofit organization where members meet regularly to perform charitable works either by direct hands-on efforts or by raising money for other organizations. A service club is defined firstl ...
. Fried also actively considered making
aliyah
Aliyah (, ; he, עֲלִיָּה ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel, which is in the modern era chiefly represented by the Israel, State of Israel ...
to
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
and joining the
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...
.
After her election as agriculture commissioner, Fried was sworn into office using the first
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;["Tanach"](_blank)
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...
published in the United States.
Fried is a registered
medical marijuana cardholder in the state of Florida. In 2023 she was named to the board of directors of the
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws
The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML ) is a social welfare organization based in Washington, D.C., that advocates for the reform of marijuana laws in the United States regarding both medical and non-medical use. Acc ...
(NORML).
Relationship with Jake Bergmann
Fried's fiancé, Jake Bergmann, is a prominent
marijuana
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...
entrepreneur in Florida. Her relationship with him has been criticized as a conflict of interest, as Bergmann's business often results in dealings with the Florida Department of Agriculture.
In June 2020, Fried and Bergmann engaged in a verbal argument at a hotel in
Fort Lauderdale
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
resulting from a car accident in the hotel's parking lot. A security guard who witnessed the incident claimed Bergmann threw a trash can and shoved Fried, though Fried denies the latter.
Fort Lauderdale Police Department
Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth ...
escorted Bergmann off the property and a formal police report was filed; no arrest was made. Following the incident, Fried denied Bergmann was physically abusive to her and replaced a number of high-level staffers who criticized him.
References
External links
Government websiteCampaign website
, -
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fried, Nikki
1977 births
Living people
21st-century American Jews
21st-century American politicians
21st-century American women politicians
American cannabis activists
American lobbyists
Candidates in the 2022 United States elections
Florida Commissioners of Agriculture
Florida Democrats
Florida lawyers
American lawyers
Jewish American people in Florida politics
Jewish women politicians
Lawyers from Miami
People from Broward County, Florida
Politicians from Miami
State political party chairs of Florida
University of Florida alumni