MIAMI — When deciding to endorse Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried for governor, Democratic activist Pamela Goodman made sure to check out the website of the abortion rights group that She was leading because she wanted to borrow her endorsement from the party’s only elected Democrat statewide.
Goodman couldn’t believe what Ruth’s List Florida said: nothing.
“What? Where is he? What? Why not?” Goodman, an attorney and former president and CEO of Ruth’s List Florida, recalled asking herself the question earlier this month. “They didn’t approve it?” I was shocked.”
Ruth’s List Florida’s mission is to recruit, train and elect “pro-choice” women, but Goodman said he would not discuss what happened with Fried. Ruth’s List in Florida wouldn’t tell either NBC News why he has so far refused to endorse Fried in the Democratic primary against Rep. Charlie Crist, once a self-described “pro-life” Republican governor who years ago became an abortion-rights supporting Democrat .
The group’s national sister organization, EMILY’s List, also did not respond to requests for comment on why he too is sitting on the sidelines in the primary. Both groups supported her candidacy in 2018 when she won statewide.
The two groups’ decision to stand apart in the primary coincides with Crist’s success in garnering the support of top women for abortion rights and establishment Democrats, such as Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, her congressional colleagues.
The dynamic has infuriated Fried supporters and worried other prominent Democratic women who have decided to stay neutral in the race. They worry about the extent to which women are not supporting each other in Democratic races and the impact this has on the party’s ability to credibly make the case that electing more women who support abortion rights is serious.
Abortion became a top campaign issue this spring as the U.S. Supreme Court prepared to overturn Roe v. Wade, offering Democrats a focal point for the organization. It also gave Fried a new way to contrast his primary good faith with that of Crist, namely his 2008 appointment of two conservative Florida Supreme Court justices who are now poised to play central roles in the opportunity to roll back state protections against abortion.
“Ruth’s List, listen to me now,” Fried told the band on May 14 at their “She’s the Change” conference in Orlando, where she broke Crist’s record. “It’s a fight. It’s your fight. It’s our fight. And I think your choice is clear.
Seated in the back of the room: Ruth’s List Florida founder Alex Sink, who started the organization in 2008 and served as the state’s elected chief financial officer from 2007 to 2011. She lost her gubernatorial bid in 2010 and was the last female Democrat elected statewide. before Fried won office in 2018. No other Democrat has won the state since 2012.
By the time Fried gave her Ruth’s List Florida speech, Sink had already personally endorsed Crist, a friend and ally of hers from their home area of Tampa Bay. She did not return messages from NBC News seeking comment. Fried’s campaign said Ruth’s List Florida declined to explain its reasoning.
Wasserman Schultz and Pelosi made sure to vouch for Crist as a reproductive rights advocate in their endorsements. In a statement to NBC News, Wasserman Schultz also mentioned Crist’s eligibility.
But Tony Fabrizio, a Republican Donald Trump pollster who worked for Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, predicted that DeSantis would be able to dispatch Fried or Crist in November, but Fried would “probably” be a tougher opponent at the margins, regardless. who wins the August 23 primary.
“If you look at Roe’s data it could help in some very close races and given that Charlie’s actual stance on the abortion choice is multiple choice it’s better [as an opponent for DeSantis] than Nikki, who is staunchly pro-choice,” Fabrizio said in a text message, echoing DeSantis advisers.
One of Crist’s biggest supporters in Tallahassee is the former senior director of Planned Parenthood in the state, State Representative Anna Eskamani. A rising Democratic star and progressive leader, Eskamani said Crist won her approval by meeting her personally and listening to her insights, and she blamed Fried for his friendship with U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and for being too comfortable with electricity companies. Eskamani also questioned Fried’s commitment to abortion rights.
“When I was in Tallahassee fighting for reproductive rights, as an advocate on the court, I never interacted with her or saw her because she wasn’t in those same spaces,” Eskamani said, adding that she had no idea. how bands like EMILY’s List or Ruth’s List Florida approached the primary.
Other Democratic women who support abortion rights were appalled.
“It’s an awful look, for EMILY’s List, for Ruth’s List, for the women’s movement,” said a Florida Democratic woman who did not support the race. She is backed by Ruth’s List Florida and didn’t want to publicly shame an ally. “It’s just f—our messaging. It’s so stupid. Nobody understands it.
Women are more likely to run against a man for executive office, in part because of an “imagination barrier” in which voters have a harder time imagining a woman as governor or mayor because people are used to men holding office, said Amanda Hunter, executive director of the Barbara Lee Family Foundation, a nonprofit that has studied how women candidates can overcome and the barriers they face — even when women come up against women. Some of her research was used by Joe Biden’s presidential campaign when considering female running mates in 2020.
“Women need to lead what we call campaign conviction, to convince donors, opinion leaders and other political elites that they are eligible and – in addition to winning over voters,” Hunter said. “They also have to spend more time than men convincing donors.
Former state senator Nan Rich experienced this challenge firsthand in 2014 when she ran for governor against Crist, the first time he campaigned for a Democratic post. Then as now, Crist racked up support from the Democratic establishment, agitating those who resented party leaders and donors drawn to his “eligibility.”
Crist won that primary and lost the general election to Governor Rick Scott, who succeeded Crist in 2010 when Crist left office to run unsuccessfully for the United States Senate against Marco Rubio, ultimately as an independent. He then successfully won a seat in Congress in 2016.
Rich said she was puzzled that Crist was considered more “eligible” than Fried because he lost two statewide races as a Democrat and she won hers in a year. as Democrats lost four more races on the ballot. Crist is winning in most polls in the race, however, and by double digits in some surveys.
Privately, Rich heard criticism about his “sympathy”, appearance and voice in 2014, common sexist tropes that Fried’s critics privately whispered about.
“You hear the same thing again. Those were the things that bothered me,” Rich told NBC News, noting that Crist “wouldn’t debate me. Not even once. He gave her one. A debate.
Still, Rich said she likes Crist as well as Fried and is staying neutral in the primary for now.
“It bothers me that some of the people who supported her — especially some women — basically spoke out against her,” Rich said. “He’s up against a woman again. I just won’t go against a woman who is highly qualified to be governor. And it’s not because she’s a woman. She won a statewide race. She is highly qualified.
As for EMILY’s List and Ruth’s List Florida not getting involved, Rich echoed Goodman saying that “they don’t live up to their values.”
Under fire from Fried during last week’s debate, Crist pointed out that he “vetoed an anti-abortion bill sent to me by the Republican Legislature.” I’ve already done it. I will do it again. And as a congressman, I have a 100% rating from Planned Parenthood and NARAL. And that’s why people like Alex Sink supported my campaign.
He also named Eskamani and Barbara Zdravecky, a former top Florida Planned Parenthood official.
But Donna Shalala, a former Democratic congresswoman from Miami who is neutral in the race and helped found EMILY’s List in 1985, said she doesn’t understand why so many people choose sides in the primary because of the issues uncomfortable related to the support of candidates.
“There’s no discipline in the Democratic Party,” Shalala said, adding that EMILY’s list is “odd” in terms of her endorsements. After all, the group endorsed a Democratic primary candidate from Ohio, a redder state than Florida, which makes Fried’s lack of endorsement all the more noticeable in her absence.
As for Ruth’s List Florida, she said she was “surprised by that too. But I do not know why. I’m a contributor to Ruth’s List. But I didn’t pay much attention to their domestic politics.
EMILY’s List and Ruth’s List Florida endorsed former U.S. Representative Gwen Graham in Florida’s 2018 Democratic primary for governor. Fried won his primary and the general election; Graham lost his primary. (The Florida Democratic Party has a history of clearing the main field for favored female candidates, like U.S. Representative Val Demings in his Senate bid against Rubio this year or Sink in his 2006 run for CFO and unsuccessful bid for Governor in 2010.)
Shalala warned that she would not “overplay” the importance of Crist winning the endorsement of “pro-choice” top women, stressing that he has deep connections and has worked hard for the support he has earned. For her part, Shalala had endorsed another primary candidate, State Senator Annette Taddeo, a friend who withdrew last month to run for Shalala’s former seat in Congress. She said she no longer approved of the primary.
Another Florida Democrat who has championed abortion rights for years, U.S. Representative Lois Frankel, has taken a similar stance.
“I made the decision not to endorse the race. I consider the two as friends. Charlie is a colleague, so it would be hard for me to go against him,” she said. “But on the other hand, I wish women had more opportunities.”
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