Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried (D), running for Florida’s Democratic gubernatorial nomination, raised a combined total of $313,000 in January. Nikki Fried’s campaign raised a total of $171,502 and her political action committee, Florida Consumers First, raised $141,854.
It marks the fifth straight month that her campaign raised under the $200,000 mark. Her largest month was June 2021, right after she announced her candidacy, with nearly $400,000 raised.
Since she announced her candidacy, her campaign raised nearly $1.5 million and her political committee raised approximately $1.7 million. Her total political war chest, excluding expenditures, now totals around $3.6 million.
Fried’s Democrat rival, Representative Charlie Crist (D-FL-13), has a total war chest of just over $4 million, but both Democrats pale in comparison to the whopping $77 million cash-on-hand for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R).
Back in January, Fried said she was not concerned about Crist winning the Democrat fundraising war.
“First of all, fundraising metrics aren’t the metrics that I believe a campaign is geared on. But we certainly are meeting all of our goals every single month,” Fried said.
Fried added that her campaign is seeing grassroots support and subtly criticized DeSantis’ alleged, but oft-denied 2024 presidential aspirations.
“You see the type of grassroots support that we’re getting all over our state. We’re getting our message out there. And certainly, we are hitting it where we need to, especially every single day the people of our state are suffering,” Fried said. “And they’re seeing a governor utilizing platforms to divide our state and to create political rhetoric and political theater in order to get his base and run for president.”
Last month, Fried’s campaign announced it was the first campaign in the country to be accepting cryptocurrency as valid contributions to her campaign. However, many of Fried’s social media followers noted the fraud and laundering concerns that come from cryptocurrency.
The Florida Capital Star reached out to the Fried campaign Friday requesting comment on whether Fried can keep up with her competitors, but has not received a response.
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Grant Holcomb is a reporter at The Florida Capital Star and The Star News Network. Follow Grant on Twitter and direct message tips.
