Nikki Fried vs. Gwen Graham

[Fuzzy Bear]

Nelson, who I voted for, ran an awful campaign.  Rick Scott, whom I have loathed, ran a great campaign and was benefiting from his high-profile performances leading Florida through two (2) major hurricane seasons back to back.  Those opportunities softened Scott's image and gave people more of a sense that he cared about them, personally.  (And just in time; Nelson would have squeaked by again without those opportunities.)

I view Fried as a fluke winner.  She won on the issue of Medical Marijuana, for the most part, and she won by an incredibly small margin.  She doesn't have a real high profile, and I can't really see her having the kind of base needed to defeat DeSantis, but Florida is sort of trending Democratic (though not strongly).

I view Graham as a stronger candidate for the Democrats.  She would have beaten DeSantis IMO.  And Gillum would have been a disaster if elected; he's one of the few votes I actually regret. 

[Fuzzy Bear]

Neither Fried nor Graham would be a particularly strong candidate for Democrats in 2022.

I don't particularly like Val Demings (given that she's a cop), but she would be the strongest statewide candidate for Florida Democrats either in the Governor's race or against Rubio, should she choose to run statewide.

The Democrats really don't have a strong candidate.  DeSantis is becoming a strong favorite for re-election.  Floridians are NOT unhappy with his COVID-19 policies, and he HAS done a good job of protecting the most vulnerable from COVID-19 while keeping the state less than totally shut down.

I certainly think Gwen Graham is a bit overrated, but she's a better challenger to DeSantis than anyone else.  I can't overstate how low a profile Nikki Fried has statewide.