Nikki Fried visits Crestview, Pensacola to talk about Florida's affordable housing crisis

CRESTVIEW — State Agriculture Commissioner and gubernatorial candidate Nikki Fried made campaign stops in Pensacola and Crestview on Thursday, but canceled a visit to Milton because of protestors angry about the so-called Oyster Bay Wildfire.

Fried, who won her seat as commissioner of agriculture in 2018, is one of nine Democratic candidates contesting for the right to face off against Republican Ron DeSantis in this year’s Nov. 8 general election.

She, along with former Republican governor and now U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist, are considered favorites to capture the Democratic nomination in the Aug. 23 primary.

At 55 South A St. in Pensacola on Thursday morning, Fried highlighted her “Lower Costs, Higher Standards” tour that addresses the state’s housing-affordability crisis.

“I want to be very clear: Florida renters are being taken advantage of” with skyrocketing rental rates in various parts of the state, Fried said.

“We need a governor who is going to work every single day to lower our costs of living and raise our standards, and that is exactly what I am going to do,” she added. “As governor, on day one I will immediately direct the Attorney General to target predatory landlords who increase rents well beyond the rate of inflation and put an end to price-gouging.”

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Fried also said she would end raids on the state’s fund for affordable housing, that “I’m going to cut your property taxes” and would double the $50,000 homestead exemption to $100,000.

Fried canceled her planned afternoon campaign stop at Heart of God Church Ministries in Milton because of demonstrators concerned about the Oyster Bay Wildfire.

The circumstances of the 196-acre wildfire that caused evacuations in the Garcon Point area last week are under investigation. The fire began April 8 as a prescribed burn conducted by the Northwest Florida Water Management District, but shifting winds caused the fire to jump its planned boundaries and threaten homes in the Dickerson City neighborhood.

At the Mount Zion A.M.E. Church annex building in Crestview late Thursday afternoon, Fried’s campaign speech included details about how her parents had taught her the importance of serving others.

Across the street from the church, several people protested against abortion. Nearby, some children in the neighborhood played basketball and jumped on a trampoline.

Fried was born and raised in Miami. During her speech in Crestview, she said that when she was in high school she got involved with Habitat for Humanity, soup kitchens and civil rights parades, “and I carried that (obligation to serve others) with me my entire life.”

Fried graduated from the University of Florida with bachelor’s, master’s and law degrees. She served as the university's student body president, a title no woman had held for almost two decades. 

As an attorney, Fried headed up the Felony Division at the Alachua County Public Defender’s Office.

She also worked in private practice in South Florida and spent time as a lawyer working as a government consultant. She advocated on behalf of at-risk children and for expanded patient access to medical marijuana.