On Feb. 9 within the College of Law, the Florida State University (FSU) Leading Women of Tomorrow, along with other student organizations, hosted an event where Nikki Fried came to speak to FSU students.
Leading Women of Tomorrow (LWT) is a nonpartisan organization that hopes to bridge the gender gap and equip more undergraduate women with the skills, resources, and confidence to become advocates in their professional fields. With over 40 chapters, the Florida State chapter is one of the biggest chapters in Florida. They frequently have events ranging from vision boards to book clubs. While this organization does cater towards uplifting women, all genders are welcome to join.
Nikki Fried is an alumna of the University of Florida after being born and raised in Orlando, FL. After being in the legal field and being a lobbyist for 10 years she decided to join the political world. In 2018 she was elected as the first female Commissioner of Agriculture. She ran on her platform of the three W’s; weed, water and weapons. Legalization of marijuana, protecting waterways, and strengthening weapon licensing. Some accomplishments of Fried’s while in office are legalizing hemp and providing licenses to businesses, opposing the development of wetlands, and proposing legislation to require additional firearm safety training.
While LWT is the main organizer of the event many other school organizations assisted with the event such as; the student government party Surge, FSU Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) and FSU College Democrats.
Starting with an introduction from Nikki Fried herself, she explains her background and what pushes her to continue to involve herself in Florida politics. To break the ice, she shares how she has recently gotten a tattoo that she describes as the “tree of life” with the Hebrew inscription “Tikkun Olam” which means “repair of the world” in Hebrew.
The event then takes place with Fried being interviewed by Deyona Burton. One of the beginning questions is what inspired Fried to run for governor in 2022. Fried tells the story of how the Cole Memorandum was rescinded which allowed individuals involved in the marijuana industry within legal states to be prosecuted by federal agencies and Attorney Generals within nonlegal states. Because of her career as a public defender, she saw too many individuals given harsh punishment for low-level marijuana crimes. Therefore, part of her reason for running for governor was to push for the federal legalization of marijuana.
While Fried shares her accomplishments and stories she makes sure to mention how important Florida students are in politics. Whether it’s through engagement or voting, she emphasizes how younger voters are one of the most important and largest influential groups in Florida politics. She even goes on to share her advice for students hoping to become involved in Florida politics, sharing how her biggest advice is for students to talk to each other more in person instead of keeping the conversation solely online. Refreshingly, she even highlights that it does not matter what political party you are; you should be making your voice heard.
When asked what is next for her career she explains how she feels as if she’s stuck between being the Florida Democratic Chair and heading a ‘War Room’ to hold politicians accountable during the 2024 presidential election. Emphasizing that while she may not have been elected as governor, she is not done with her mission to improve Florida.
After the main interview, the floor is opened to questions from the audience. One interesting question asked was the difference between the race for the Commissioner of Agriculture versus the race for governor. One of the biggest differences she mentions is that because of Florida’s importance in nationwide politics, the race for governor receives more national attention making it a more polarized and dramatic race.
A funny note that she shares with the audience while giving her answer about owning firearms while having a medical marijuana card is that she herself posted a photo of both her medical marijuana card and her concealed weapons permit side by side on social media. This is just one of the ‘controversies’ that she had to deal with during her career.
When asked about Desantis’ recent announcements of the rescinding of African American studies she strongly states that she disagrees with this decision based on the importance of building diversity within Florida.
One important issue that she is asked about is the rising antisemitism in the state of Florida. Being a Jewish woman herself, this is an issue that speaks personally to her. Fried shares that she thinks that our elected officials should be speaking out more and more about these antisemitic events and the silence of elected officials when it comes to denouncing these events should scare individuals. This is important to all Florida college students and FSU students specifically because of the recent antisemitic tables showing up across the state of Florida.
Furthermore, when asked about her experiences being a woman in politics, she shares how she dealt with sexist comments from her peers and colleagues. She shares that the most universal comment she received was whether she was qualified to be running for governor, even after proving her qualifications while being Commissioner of Agriculture. However, Fried shares that she hopes her experiences in politics will make it easier for the next generation of women to become involved.
When asked about how she was able to balance her thrive for winning and her morals she stresses that it is important to stay true to yourself and the issues that matter to you, and to not be blinded by a want for power.
One opinion that she features throughout all her answers is that we do not have to always agree with one another. The beauty of the United States and democracy is that while we may not agree with each other we can have conversations with each other about issues we mutually care about.
This event was incredibly insightful into the political world of Florida. Fried shared words of wisdom and stories with her audience and the audience responded with questions and active participation.
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