Florida Democratic Party chairwoman Nikki Fried, a failed Democrat gubernatorial candidate, is stumping for Democrats in Jacksonville, Florida, ahead of the highly anticipated mayor’s race.
“I’m Nikki Fried, the chair of the Florida Democratic Party and I’m with my best friends here in Duval County because early voting starts, May 1st until the 14th,” Fried said in a message posted to Twitter.
“That’s Mother’s Day. So make sure that you either are turning in your ballots going to your early voting sites. Elections are May 16th. I know Duval that we are going to bring it home for all of our Democrats up and down the ballot because you deserve better here in Jacksonville,” she said. “So let’s do it.”
Noticeably absent from the video is the Democrat running for mayor: Donna Deegan.
“I am hearing from reports on the ground that @DonnaDeegan was NOT with @NikkiFried today in Jacksonville,” Republican Party of Florida chairman Christian Ziegler said.
“Heard she avoided her State Chairman like the plague… wonder why? Anyone know if that is true? @AGGancarski,” he added:
Fried’s plea comes as the runoff mayoral race between Democrat Donna Deegan and Republican Daniel Davis heats up. Davis and the Duval County Republican Party have highlighted Deegan’s previous support of the Black Lives Matter movement and her “soft on crime” position.
Deegan has since referred to a GOP-funded ad highlighting her previous positions as “divisive” and “racially insensitive.”
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“If you don’t have a vision, then you use those divisive tactics; the fact is he doesn’t want to talk about issues,” Deegan responded to the ad, asserting that she is actually pro-police.
“All I want to do is make sure the citizens are safe. I’m going to make sure our Jacksonville sheriff’s office, our sheriff, and the men and women in blue have everything they need,” Davis said in response to Deegan’s claims, dismissing her denials.
Meanwhile, Deegan said, “I believe that we need to make sure that we are taking care of our police officers. I also believe we need to take care of our community, and I don’t think those two things are mutually exclusive.”
Notably, Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters is supporting Davis in the mayoral race.
“My decision to support a law and order candidate like Daniel Davis stems from his commitment to giving officers the resources they need to fight crime, not defunding them,” he said.
A University of North Florida (UNF) Public Opinion Research Lab survey released last month found the race tightening, with Deegan leading Davis by a single percentage point.
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