Nicole Heather Fried is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the chair of the Florida Democratic Party since 2023. Prior to her election as chair, Fried served as the 12th Florida commissioner of agriculture from 2019 to 2023. Fried graduated from the University of Florida in 2003. She has previously practiced various forms of law, including corporate law, foreclosure defense, and public defense. Fried has also been a prominent lobbyist for the marijuana industry in the state of Florida.
She won the 2018 Florida commissioner of agriculture election, narrowly defeating state representative Matt Caldwell by less than 7,000 votes out of over eight million votes cast, a margin of 0.08%. Fried is the first woman to be elected to the position and was the only Democrat to win a statewide race in the 2018 Florida elections. During her tenure, she redesigned gas pump stickers, promoted a Florida gun law bill, partook in Florida v. Georgia over waters within the ACF River Basin, and appointed two lobbyists for the Florida Sugar Cane League.
Fried was selected as one of 17 speakers to jointly deliver the keynote address at the 2020 Democratic National Convention. She did not seek re-election in 2022, instead running in the 2022 Florida gubernatorial election. Fried was defeated in the Democratic primary by U.S. representative and former Republican governor Charlie Crist.
