• Democrat wins Florida Agriculture Commissioner election after recount
    4 replies, posted
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/democratic-marijuana-lobbyist-wins-statewide-race-after-florida-recount/2018/11/19/995cb61e-ec22-11e8-baac-2a674e91502b_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.f09e0aad9188 RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. — Of all the outcomes in the messy, unpredictable and seemingly endless election in Florida, the unlikeliest may be that voters in the state elected a pro-pot, pro- gun-control, pro-regulation Democrat to statewide office. Nikki Fried, a marijuana lobbyist seen as a rising star in her party, appeared to have narrowly won the race for state agriculture commissioner Monday, after her opponent, Republican Matt Caldwell, conceded. The Associated Press reported Sunday that Fried was ahead of Caldwell by 6,753 votes out of more than 8 million cast. There was little attention on the race nationally, as the media glare focused on the more consequential Senate race between Gov. Rick Scott (R) and Sen. Bill Nelson (D), and the gubernatorial contest between former congressman Ron DeSantis (R) and Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum (D). In both cases, the Republican claimed victory after a grueling recount that once again put the spotlight on Florida’s embattled election system. “We think her win is a starting point for Democrats in Florida,” said Terrie Rizzo, chairman of the Democratic Party in Florida. “We’re building a strong bench in the party, and Nikki is a rising star.” Fried, a former public defender, was endorsed by the Brady Campaign to End Gun Violence, the Sierra Club and Elizabeth Warren, the firebrand senator from Massachusetts and possible Democratic presidential contender. Mike Barnett, chairman of the Republican Party of Palm Beach County, suggested Fried’s victory had more to do with her gender than the candidates’ policy differences. “I think it has less to do with issues, and more because people are calling this the ‘Year of the Woman,’ ” Barnett said. Fried will be stepping into a job that has been held by only 11 people since the state’s founding in 1845 — all of them men, with the brief exception in 2001 of Terry Lee Rhodes, who served for four months as an interim appointee. As a member of DeSantis’s Cabinet, she’ll oversee a department that traditionally has been friendly to farmers and businesses, and also to the National Rifle Association. In Florida, it’s the Agriculture Commission that conducts weapons background checks and issues concealed-weapons permits. Fried is a gun owner, and she has a concealed-weapons permit. Still, she has advocated for stronger gun-control measures. In October, Fried tweeted, “I have a message for the @NRA: Your control over concealed weapons permits is finished. As Commissioner of Agriculture, I won’t be beholden to you — but to the people of Florida.” Fried’s big issue, however, was marijuana — medical as well as recreational. Florida voters in 2016 passed an amendment allowing the use of medical marijuana. The issue was popular — it passed by 71 percent — but the state has been slow in rolling it out.
fuck ya
So what is her goal then? Restrict concealed carry permits to the point that no one can get one? Something unconstitutional and a de-facto ban on carrying? Coming down on people that are the least likely to commit crimes? What does she intend to do with her position on this particular subject? The verbiage of that statement is rather off-putting and a bit sinister.
given how there's been two very massive tragic public shootings, just anything instead of what her predicesor did which was insist they couldn't do anything. On other issues though florida might finally be forced to address climate change now that the gop doesn't have complete control over the government.
Her position is limited to the background checks and the issuance of concealed carry permits. In reference to those two things specifically, what can you do to prevent the tragedies? Concealed carry permit holders aren't a problem. What would changing anything about the issuance of CC permits do?
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