Latest news with #NikkiFried
CBS News
04-07-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Democratic lawmakers denied entry to Alligator Alcatraz immigration detention site
A group of Florida Democratic state lawmakers was blocked from entering the Alligator Alcatraz immigrant detention facility in the Everglades Thursday, despite citing legal authority for an official legislative site visit. Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried issued a statement following the incident, saying, "Lawmakers on the ground were just blocked from entering a state-funded detention site because of so-called 'safety concerns.' This is a taxpayer-funded facility, run by the State of Florida. Our elected officials have every legal right to walk through those gates." Fried added, "What are Ron DeSantis and his administration trying to hide? If it's unsafe for lawmakers to visit, how is it safe for anyone inside?" Democrats raise concerns over conditions Ahead of the attempted site visit, the Democratic lawmakers said in a joint statement, "As lawmakers, we have both the legal right and moral responsibility to inspect this site, demand answers, and expose this abuse before it becomes the national blueprint." They also voiced concerns about conditions for detainees. First group of detainees arrives The first group of detainees arrived at the facility, according to a spokesperson for Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier. "Detainees began arriving last night. Under President Trump's leadership, we are working at turbo speed on cost-effective and innovative ways to deliver on the American people's mandate for mass deportations of criminal illegal aliens," said Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. "We will expand facilities and bed space in just days, thanks to our partnership with Florida." The facility, located at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, is expected to house up to thousands when fully operational. Built in just eight days across 10 miles of Everglades terrain, the center includes more than 200 security cameras, over 28,000 feet of barbed wire and 400 security personnel, according to state officials.
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Florida chair pushes back on ‘Democratic Party is dead' claim
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – Following the November election, the Florida Democratic Party saw lawmakers leave the political organization. State Sen. Jason Pizzo, from South Florida, switched to no party affiliation. State Rep. Susan Valdes, in Hillsborough County, switched to the Republican Party. Another state house member also switched after Valdes. Florida Department of Education claims 'pornographic' books remain in Hillsborough County high school libraries On Friday, during a stop in Jacksonville, Gov. Ron DeSantis made a claim he had mentioned before about the state of the Democratic Party in Florida. 'This party is dead across the state of Florida,' DeSantis said. It's a similar claim made by Pizzo while announcing his switch to no party affiliation. Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried said she has noticed increased support after about 25 town halls statewide this year and two recent special congressional elections. During that time, Fried said, she saw more funding and boots on the ground. 'I call B.S. for so many reasons. First and foremost, we have an energized base at this moment,' Fried said. Fried said this is because of economic conditions over issues involving property insurance and uncertainty from tariffs. 'People are energized by what Democrats are going to do, not only here in the state of Florida, but Washington D.C.,' Fried Political Science Emeritus Professor J. Edwin Benton questioned whether that momentum will carry over into the midterm. 'Democrats are not going to win office or get votes because that's not a lasting effect,' Benton said. He's referring to some voters looking at Democrats only as dissent toward Republicans. 'They've got to resonate the message, their policy programs, (and) the things they are endorsing,' Benton said. Benton also said some fear the party may be moving too far left, making it difficult to gain additional support, especially as Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez continue to hold a series of large rallies boosting their political power. Fried believes there are many voices leading the national party. 'You've got Democrats all over the country who are speaking out against what is happening,' Fried said. When asked about leadership of the state party, Fried said she takes responsibility for organizing voter outreach, listening to constituents along with elected officials, and organizing the party's messaging. She said the key message from Democrats this year and into next year involves the economy. 'The fact that our state is unaffordable. That economic message continues into '25 and '26,' Fried said. Orlando-based U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost and Sen. Chris Murphy from Connecticut are scheduled to be in Sarasota over the weekend for a rally. DeSantis and Fried also criticized some of the politicians who have switched parties recently. They both think it was done for each politician's personal gain. DeSantis went on to say that he found the new GOP members mostly aligning with Democrats in Tallahassee. The office of Rep. Valdes didn't respond to News Channel 8's request for comments. The Florida Republican Party has more than 1.2 million more registered voters in the state than Democrats. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘Spoonful of cocaine': Ex-Clemency Board member recommends inmate be freed
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways (NewsNation) — A former Florida clemency board member is calling for the release of Michael Edwards, who has served 31 years of a 60-year sentence for selling a small amount of cocaine. Nikki Fried, who served as Florida's Commissioner of Agriculture from 2019 to 2023 and sat on the state's four-person Board of Executive Clemency, described Edwards' continued imprisonment as 'a travesty of justice' during a Tuesday interview on NewsNation's 'Banfield.' 'Justice has been served way past served,' Fried said. 'This is not a violent person.' FL man serving 60 years for spoonful of cocaine petitions for release Edwards was sentenced in 1993 after being convicted of selling what was described as 'a spoonful of cocaine' to an ex-girlfriend who was working as a police informant. The sentence resulted from Florida's 'three strikes' law, as it was Edwards' third nonviolent drug offense. The 60-year sentence with no possibility of parole would keep Edwards imprisoned until 2037, when he would be 74 years old, resulting in a total of 43 years behind bars. Joe D'Alessandro, the former state attorney whose office prosecuted Edwards, supports clemency. 'Never in my entire career have I looked to reverse anything that I have done, except for Michael Edwards' case,' D'Alessandro said, pleading for Edwards' release. Potential jurors tossed from Diddy trial after watching Cassie video Despite recommendations from the clemency board, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declined to grant clemency, stating, 'I'm not inclined at this time.' Edwards has been described as a model prisoner during his incarceration and has already reduced his original sentence through good behavior. Fried explained that for Edwards to receive another chance at clemency, his family would need to file another petition and a clemency board member would need to invoke 'Rule 17' to expedite the case, bypassing a yearslong backlog in Florida's clemency system. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NewsNation.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Democrats try to make the most out of Tuesday night's election results in Florida
Screenshot of Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried on Zoom call organized by the DNC on April 2, 2025. What can Florida Democrats take out of Tuesday night's special congressional elections? They lost two races that most everyone always expected them to lose. But cutting the margins of defeat in half from elections held just four months ago is giving them hope for 2026. 'These races should have never been competitive, but we outworked them,' Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried said in a Zoom call Wednesday afternoon, referring to the candidacies of Democratic candidates Gay Valimont in Congressional District 1 and Josh Weil in Congressional District 6. 'We outraised them and we slashed their margins by more than half,' Fried added. 'And they panicked. They had to call Daddy [Donald Trump], hosting emergency town halls, slashing last-minute cash and even sacrificing [New York U.S. Rep. Elise] Stefanik's nomination [as U.N. ambassador] to protect their very slim majority.' In CD1 in the Panhandle, former state Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis defeated Valimont by 15 percentage points, 57%-42%. In Northeast Florida's CD6, former GOP state Sen. Randy Fine defeated Weil by 14 percentage points, 57%-43%. Democrats spent far more money in both races despite the fact that the districts rank among the most Republican in the state — Trump won both districts by more than 30 percentage points last November. Nevertheless, Weil's 14-point loss to Fine was 18 points closer than Democrat James David Stockton got in losing to then-Republican incumbent Mike Waltz in the same district just five months ago. Republican Party of Florida Chair Evan Power dismissed the Democrats' spin, saying, 'We took everything that the Democrats had and we gave it back, and we won by double-digits.' 'We won big in record numbers in Florida last time, and getting people to turn out to vote right after they delivered a big victory is always hard,' Power told Newsmax. 'Special elections in Florida have always been close. This wasn't close, even though they spent millions and millions of dollars. The Florida GOP, our grassroots teams made 400,000 calls, knocked on thousands of doors, and I think that everyone was united to the fact that they wanted to send a message that President Trump needed Floridians to go support him in Washington, D.C., and they sent two great ones in Jimmy Patronis and Randy Fine.' Fried disagreed, saying that the Florida outcome 'is a warning sign for Republicans in Florida and around the country, and it should send shivers to the spine of any Republican, in an R-plus-15 seat or below. There are no more safe seats in Florida.' Meanwhile, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis saw the closer margin of victory for Fine on Tuesday was a reflection of his weakness as a candidate and not a referendum on the president's first two months in office. During an appearance in Ocala Wednesday morning, the governor bashed Fine as a 'squish' for supporting the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Act and for opposing his proposal on illegal immigration earlier this year (as did the majority of the GOP-controlled Legislature initially but they later approved a watered-down bill). 'So when people see that, our base voters don't get excited about that,' DeSantis said. 'You're not giving them a reason to go out and vote. And also the way that he conducts himself, he repels people. He repels people in the Legislature. They wanted to get him out of the Legislature so they asked me to put him up for Florida Atlantic [University] president. I did, and the whole board would have resigned rather than make him president,' he continued. 'So, it was unique problems with this candidate that was causing it to be a close race, and I think it was trending to be a lot closer. Then what happened was they put a lot of money in a Trump plus-30 seat. They shouldn't have had to do, but they did. And then the president did a couple of tele-town halls where he said, 'Listen, for my agenda, I need you to go out and vote.'' Fine responded via X, writing, 'A dying star burns hottest before it fades into oblivion. I'm focused on working with @realDonaldTrump to stop Democrats from taking this country backwards, not working with them. Let's go.' Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin promised that the resources the party brought to the Florida races will continue into next year's midterms. 'You're going to continue to witness a level of aggressive investment in organizing from this DNC that's unlike anything that we've done before,' he said on the Zoom call, organized by the DNC. 'Last night's special elections in Florida show Trump, Musk, and Republicans that they're in trouble even in the reddest districts.' The fact that Democrats spent so much money (Weil raised more than $10 million and Valimont more than $6 million) was mocked by Republicans but was controversial with some Florida Democrats, too, who questioned whether it was a worthy investment. 'There's easily been 2x as much money donated in these races as donated to the FL Dem Party for voter reg since Obama12,' Tallahassee Democratic strategist Steve Schale wrote on X Tuesday night. 'Until people get excited about funding infrastructure, it's going to be a long road back.' Fried maintained that the money made a difference, even though her party came up short in both races. 'I heard Republicans say, 'Well, it was a waste of money. They spent $20 million on these races and we still won.' But they don't understand this, these races, came down to the wire because we invested in them,' she said Wednesday. 'Put money into a strong ground game and organized in red counties like never before. Investment on the ground matters. Money spent in specials was largely on the ground, not TV,' she continued. 'So, don't tell me Florida is too expensive. We have proven that we can raise the money and spend it wisely. … We put a down payment on our future, and we're going to make Republicans pay for it in the long run.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Forbes
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Forbes
'Historic' Results In Florida's Special Election Shows Voters Rejecting Trump's Agenda: Nikki Fried
The GOP candidates in two special congressional elections in Florida won on Tuesday, but with much slimmer margins than the incumbent Republicans won by in November. Nikki Fried, chair of the Florida Democratic Party, joined Brittany Lewis on "Forbes Newsroom" to discuss the election results. Watch the full conversation above.
