DeSantis challenger enlists Lincoln Project alum as campaign's comms director

DeSantis gubernatorial challenger Nikki Fried, who bills herself as the "only Democrat" in a Tallahassee, Florida, office since 2012, is teaming up with the Lincoln Project, an infamous anti-Trump super PAC.

On the one hand, the candidate personally solicited help from Project Lincon co-founder Rick Wilson for coordinating ads against Republican Gov. DeSantis. But on the other, Fried's campaign brought a former Lincoln Project staffer on board.

The primary for Democrats in the 2022 Florida governor's race will see Fried facing off against ex-Gov. Charlie Christ and Democrat state Sen. Annette Taddeo.

Fried is openly courting the approval of Wilson and the Lincoln Project.

"You making the ad or are we, @TheRickWilson? He also gave himself a raise during the pandemic," Fried quote tweeted Wilson's post Saturday.

Red State accused the primary Democrat candidate for Florida governor of coordinating an "in-kind" donation with that tweet.

They cite the following federal election rules as to what Fried violated: "When a committee, group or individual pays for a communication that is coordinated with a campaign or a candidate, the communication is either an in-kind contribution or, in some limited cases, a coordinated party expenditure by a party committee."

On Monday, via Florida Politics, voters learned that Fried took it a step further as she has employed an alum from the Lincoln Project in her campaign for governor.

Keith Edwards had previously been the Lincoln Project's communications director for a period of seven months in the lead-up to the November 2020 presidential election cycle. "These experienced, talented individuals demonstrate our commitment to the people of Florida, and our determination to deliver results for Floridians on Day 1. We're on our way to a victory in August and preparing for the General in November," said a spokesperson for Fried's campaign.

These recent changes are being labeled a "reset" for Fried's campaign that initially launched in June 2021. The addition of a new communications lead comes after the Democrat challenger compared DeSantis to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

Other campaign work Edwards was involved in includes Georgia Democrat Jon Ossoff's successful Senate campaign and a stint as the press lead for former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg's 2020 presidential campaign ambitions.

In the wake of the Ossoff win, an ethics watchdog group accused the campaign staffer of possibly violating campaign finance laws, Fox News reported.

Edwards worked as communications director for the Lincoln Project until he departed in November 2020, when he took a position as senior digital advisor for the Ossoff campaign. Federal Elections Commission records showed that Edwards's consulting firm That's Good Media was paid $20,000 by the Lincoln Project while still receiving salary payments by Ossoff's campaign.

This all comes despite the Lincoln Project's recent controversy during the Virginia governor's race late last year. That being when the group took credit for an apparent staged "tiki torch" hoax where five actors playing white supremacists stood in front of a Glenn Youngkin campaign bus for a photo-op.

The clean-up efforts by Reuters and CNN after the fact attempted to distract from the fact that the effort was geared towards helping Youngkin's Democrat opponent.

As for what to expect: the newly-minted communications director was perplexed that Disney stopped all political donations amid a recent controversy surrounding Florida's anti-grooming bill that passed and is heading to the governor's desk.

This in reference to the situation Disney CEO Bob Chapek found himself in.

While at first Chapek told Disney employees he didn't want the company to become a "political football" in making a statement opposing the mislabeled "Don’t Say Gay Bill," the executive's public opposition ended up happening regardless.