FLORIDA — Nikki Fried, Florida's current commissioner of agriculture and the only Democrat to currently hold a cabinet-level state position, has filed to run for governor.

What You Need To Know

  • Nikki Fried, Florida's commissioner of agriculture, filed Tuesday to run for governor

  • She is the only registered Democrat currently at the highest levels of state office

  • She is the 11th individual to formally challenge incumbent Governor Ron DeSantis

On Tuesday, Fried filed the necessary paperwork with the Florida Division of Elections, stating her intent to seek the Sunshine State's highest office; her name now appears on the state website's list of candidates for governor.

The move is hardly shocking. Fried has been vocal on the Republican-led state legislature's handling of everything from the COVID-19 pandemic (and even went so far as publicly suspect in March that current Governor Ron DeSantis actually contracted the virus back in November) to the rollout of medical marijuana in the state.

A former lobbyist for that industry, Fried recently responded to the state supreme court's ruling in favor of Florida's "vertically integrated" rollout of medical marijuana, saying it "helps absolutely no one but the 22 medical marijuana companies at the expense of patients." 

Born and raised in Florida, Fried has acted as the state's commissioner of agriculture since 2019, and is an attorney educated at University of Florida. She joins an already-crowded field for the November 2022 general election. Ten other people have already filed to attempt to unseat DeSantis, including former Republican Governor Charlie Crist, now a Democratic U.S. representative for St. Petersburg.