Florida Democrats are increasingly worried that the candidates trying to unseat Ron DeSantis can’t stop the popular Republican governor from winning reelection as the GOP solidifies its hold on the state’s political infrastructure
Rep. Charlie Crist, a former Republican governor-turned Democratic lawmaker, has consistently led in public polling. | Joe Raedle/Getty ImagesTALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Democrats are increasingly worried that the candidates trying to unseat Ron DeSantis can’t stop the popular Republican governor from winning re-election as the GOP solidifies its hold on the state’s political infrastructure., Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, and state Sen.
But the biggest hurdle is DeSantis, who has amassed a $100 million-plus war chest and is popular in the state and across the country for embracing culture war issues and attacking “woke” corporations and Biden’s policies while defending LGBTQ-related school measures such as Florida’s ““It is getting more difficult to make the Florida case to national donors,” said veteran Democratic consultant Ben Pollara. “The DeSantis thing is kind of a blessing and a curse.
It’s against that backdrop that the three main Democratic contenders gathered at Orlando’s Rosen Center hotel for a candidate forum on Friday night, the first primary season event that all three participated in. The event doubled as a fundraiser for the Democratic Women’s Club of Florida. “A 1992 piece of legislation that, I’m sorry, someone on this stage worked on passing that forced individuals to serve 85 percent of their sentences,” Fried said. “We still have Black and brown men in our jail system who should have been let out.”
“If you look at the three candidates, the polling has not changed much at all, Charlie Crist has been in the lead there and in fundraising, and most recently endorsements,” said Andrew Spar, president of the Florida Education Association, the state’s largest teacher’s unions and one of the biggest remaining groups backing Democrats in the state. “Fried has proven she can win statewide and has done a great job hitting DeSantis, but there has been a consistency with Crist leading of late.
Fried became the first statewide elected Democrat since 2011 after narrowly winning four years ago, giving her a high profile perch to consistently hit DeSantis while carving out a position as titular head of the party and the front-runner for governor. Most Democrats have cheered Fried for taking shots at DeSantis over his pandemic response and affordable housing, among other issues, but see her campaign making key tactical errors that have bogged down momentum.
Fried’s campaign has gotten increasingly aggressive in recent weeks, going after Crist on a number of issues tied to his time as a former Republican governor, including that he was openly anti-abortion before leaving the Republican Party in 2010. Her campaign also highlighted reporting that Crist has relied on proxy votes this year instead of in-person voting, a practice Pelosi instituted when Covid-19 was ravaging the nation. While voting remotely, Crist has held regular campaign events.
“It’s time we united early to be able to organize early,” he said in a text message. “The Republicans are good at declaring who they want EARLY — sending money and support behind the candidate. We have to do the same!”
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