Democrats rally in Apalachicola forum

With there remaining very few doubts that Donald Trump will carry both Franklin and Gulf counties in his bid for the presidency, due to the overwhelming number of voters registered with the GOP, the Democrats turned to a tri-county rally last week at the Fort Coombs Armory to gin up support for local candidates.

Presented by the Democratic parties of both Gulf and Wakulla counties, as well as a newly formed group in Franklin County known as ABCDemocracy, and with help from Sumter County, the Democratic forum included appearances by Daryl Parks, who is running to unseat Republican Corey Simon as state senator, and Yen Bailey, who is running to defeat Republican congressman Neal Dunn.

In addition, personal appearances and remarks were provided by Elinor Mount Simmons, who is running to unseat Republican Anthony Croom who was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to succeed the late Noah Lockley as Franklin County commissioner for District 3; and Jill Rudd, who is running against incumbent Republican Steve Lanier for Franklin County superintendent.

A representative for Candye Lewis, who is running for Gulf County tax collector against Republican Ashley Forehand, also spoke briefly.

While each gave their respective pitches, the star of the show was Florida Democratic Chairwoman Nikki Fried, who closed out the forum with a rousing speech in favor of both the local candidates as well as for Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, who is hoping to unseat Republican Rick Scott as U.S. senator, and of course for the presidential ticket of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.

Fried also encouraged voters to vote down Issue 1, which would make school board seats partisan; and Issue 2, which detractors say would further enshrine the right to hunt and fish in the state at the expense of environmental and other priorities.

She urged a yes vote on Issues 3 and 4, which would put into the Florida constitution a right to abortion as well as to possess recreational marijuana.

The meeting was emceed by Pam Stewart, chairwoman of the Gulf County Democratic Party, with an opening prayer by Apalachicola Pastor David Walker, and the closing prayer by Rev. Carol Wood, with the First Presbyterian Church of Wewahitchka.

There were plenty of yard signs and other political paraphernalia handed out to the audience of about 100.

Fried’s remarks were greeted with rousing applause at every turn.

“There are more that unites us every single day than what divides us,” she said. “And it’s unfortunate that we have one party in our state, and in our country right now, that is spending every single moment trying to divide us. That is not who we are as Americans, that is not who we are as Floridians and that is not what this democracy was built on.

“You ask anybody in the state the number one issue on their minds is property insurance,” Fried said. “Whether you rent and your landlord is increasing your rent because they have to pay for higher property insurance, or you’re a homeowner and now you can’t afford your property insurance, if you can find a carrier. These are serious issues that are plaguing our state and unfortunately we have had one-party control of the state for 30 years and they put Band-aids on the solution. And they’ve pretended it doesn’t exist and pretend that another hurricane is not going to hit the Gulf.”

In addition to calling for measures to make property insurance more affordable, Fried zeroed in on a key issue that divides the two parties. 

“What are we doing to recognize that our climate is changing, and that we have to do things to address climate change and to harden our communities?” she asked.