Tamarac - Thursday August 25, 2022: Following a bruising primary campaign for the democratic nomination for governor of Florida, the winner Charlie Crist, and the runner-up Nikkei Fried both appeared at a Unity Rally Thursday night in Tamarac. They were joined by Val Demings, the U.S. Senate nominee and other leading state democrats in a show of unity they hope will help pave the rough road they face ahead of the November election.
Nikki Fried showed up at the Unity Rally. She didn’t mention Crist by name, but she vowed to support the ticket. “I will be out there every single night fighting for this ticket," said Fried. "We are here tonight for one reason, to make sure that we are united that we are making sure that Ron DeSantis is a one term Governor.”
The democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate also spoke. Val Demings will challenge Marco Rubio in November. “We are the ones who are committed to reducing gun violence and getting dangerous guns out of the hands of dangerous people," said Demings. "I believe that it is our time because we need to protect a woman’s right to choose.”
And democratic Gubernatorial candidate Cris will challenge incumbent Governor Ron DeSantis. “It’s about a woman’s right to choose, that’s on the ballot. Democracy is on this ballot," said Cris. "We have a Governor that’s horrific, and when he says we’re the freest state in America, is he crazy?”
It will be an uphill struggle.
DeSantis has a war chest of over $160 million, dwarfing Crist’s fund raising of just over $15 million as of mid-August. And now, there are more republicans than democrats registered to vote in Florida.