FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Nikki Fried and Charlie Crist are making their pitches to Broward County voters as they enter the final stretch of their campaigns to win the Democratic nomination for Florida governor.
Both candidates are ramping up efforts to attract voters in Broward County, a reliably blue speck of Florida. Fried and Crist spent time in the second most populous county in the state on Wednesday, Fried to make one of her final appointments as agriculture commissioner in Fort Lauderdale and Crist to meet with Haitian faith and community leaders in North Lauderdale.
In her final months as agriculture commissioner, Fried is focused on leaving a lasting political legacy. On Wednesday, she appointed a new member to the Florida Commission on the Status of Women at the Broward County School Board headquarters in Fort Lauderdale. And though the spotlight was on another, she still spoke of national issues like reproductive rights and gun violence.
Fried is the only Democrat elected statewide in Florida. She would be the state’s first female governor and has stated a goal to elect more women into positions of power. She appointed Tracy Merlin, an educator in Broward County for more than 23 years and a gun violence prevention advocate, to the nonpartisan board that has raised awareness and issued statewide recommendations for 31 years on matters impacting girls and women in Florida.
Fried has appointed three members, each with a term of four years, and Merlin is Fried’s third and final appointee. The move upholds several central tenets to her campaign for governor.
“Commissioner Fried has noticed me showing up for years,” Merlin said. “Thank you, Commissioner Fried, for seeing me, for recognizing the changes needed to help our state and for making gun violence prevention one of your top priorities.”
The announcement of Merlin’s appointment came just two days after a mass shooting at an Independence Day parade in Highland Park, Illinois, where seven people died and 38 were injured.
Fried previously has expressed her staunch opposition to politicians who receive support from the National Rifle Association — including Crist, who had been favored by the association during his term as Republican governor of Florida from 2007 to 2011.
Other attendees on Wednesday included state Sen. Lauren Book, Rep. Christine Hunschofsky, Broward County Commissioner Nan Rich, and Broward School Board members Laurie Rich Levinson and Debbi Hixon.
At the event, Fried touched on the recent reversal of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that offered federal protection for abortions.
“While there is rightfully a lot of conversation right now on how the recent devastating Supreme Court ruling taking away women’s rights will negatively impact the well-being of current and future generations of women, another issue that does not have enough attention is the disproportionate impact that gun violence has on women and girls in Florida,” Fried said.
Crist held a campaign event with Haitian faith and community leaders at the Grand Palace Ballroom in North Lauderdale on Wednesday night. Conversation centered around religion, criticisms of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, and Crist’s work with Haitian communities during his first term as governor. Each point appealed to the present pastors and politicians who began the evening in prayer and expressed disappointment in the current governor’s restrictive stance on immigration.
“This isn’t about right-versus-left ideology,” Crist said. “This race is about good versus bad.”
Rep. Marie Woodson, North Lauderdale Vice Mayor Samson Borgelin, and North Lauderdale commissioners Mario Bustamante and Regina Martin were among the politicians who attended the event in support of Crist.
One pivotal talking point was Crist’s response as governor during the 2010 catastrophic earthquake in Haiti. The majority of attendees were Haitian or Haitian American residents of South Florida.
“I knew we had to do something,” Crist said. “And so as the governor of Florida, we set up a command post in Palm Beach County, headed by a man who worked for the former Attorney General Bob Butterworth. And we were on it day after day after day after day.”
Crist criticized DeSantis for calling Florida the most free state in the country, a comment nearly identical to one he made at a West Palm Beach forum last month where both he and Fried were present.
“He talks about us being the freest state in America,” he said. “Well, apparently not if you’re a woman and you’d like the right to choose about health care for your own body.”
Crist made no direct mention of Fried at Wednesday’s event. He did reference her as his “opponent,” a term he more often reserved for DeSantis.
“We’re doing well, about 25 points ahead of our competition, outraised the opponent by about 3 to 1,” he said.
The Crist campaign has raised almost $6 million in contributions as of June 24, according to the Florida Division of Elections. Fried’s campaign has raised less than $2.5 million as of the same date.
The night ended with a question-and-answer session, with questions that included funding for historically Black colleges and universities, equitable contracting for Black-owned businesses, quelling the raging rental market, misinformation, access to citizenship, and increased training for law enforcement officers.
Rachel Lorfits, a representative for the Dale Holness’ congressional campaign, questioned what Crist’s process would be to fill judicial seats in state courts if elected as governor.
“In terms of a judiciary hearing committee, how can we ensure that there are voices from the citizens in the Florida Bar to ensure that the people in these unelected seats represent the people who they have to make decisions on behalf of?” she asked.
“The answer is simple: Elect me,” Crist replied.
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