Did Top Aide Karen Castor Dentel Undermine Boss Nikki Fried’s Endorsement of Rep. Morales by Endorsing Morales’s Opponent?
Orange County School Board member and FDACS Space Coast Regional Director Dr. Karen Castor Dentel (left) and Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried. Photos by Orange County Public Schools and the Nikki for Governor campaign, respectively.
ORLANDO, Fla. (FNN) – State Rep. Daisy Morales’s re-election campaign announced Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried‘s endorsement of her bid for Florida House District 44 Tuesday, but former state representative and current Orange County School Board member Dr. Karen Castor Dentel made a different decision than her boss. Dentel endorsed Morales’s Democratic primary opponent, Jennifer Rita Harris, which Harris’s campaign recently announced, according to Florida Politics.
Dentel is the current Space Coast Regional Director for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS), helmed by Commissioner Nikki Fried. According to the FDACS website, Dentel’s service area includes Volusia, Lake, Orange, Seminole, Brevard, Okeechobee, Indian River, St. Lucie and Osceola counties.
Commissioner Nikki Fried’s Endorsement
This is Commissioner Fried’s second time endorsing Morales for State Representative and financially supporting her campaign, having also done it in 2020.
Dentel joins State Senator Victor Torres, former State Rep. and current Orange County Property Appraiser Amy Mercado, Maxwell Frost, current Democratic candidate for U.S. Congress District 10, and Samuel Vilchez Santiago, Morales’s 2020 Democratic primary opponent, in endorsing Harris.
Leaders, especially elected leaders, are typically the only ones who make endorsements from their respective offices. For example, Governor Ron DeSantis and elected members of his cabinet (including CFO Jimmy Petronis and Attorney General Ashley Moody) may make endorsements, but the staff in their respective offices typically don’t. As the elected head of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, it would seem to make sense that only the Commissioner would make endorsements from that office.
Florida Politics previously reported that the Harris vs. Morales race for HD 44 “may split local Democratic leaders, between a longtime party associate and an incumbent lawmaker who has attracted establishment Democratic Primary challenges wherever she turns.”
This appears to have reached Fried’s office as well.
According to Florida Politics, Dentel said in her endorsement of Harris:
“Rita Harris will work for our teachers, schools, and students in Tallahassee and I am proud to endorse her for House District 44. As a mother, Rita understands that every child should have a quality education regardless of what neighborhood they live in. I know Rita will work to strengthen public education and will be a great ally in Tallahassee.”
FNN News reached out to Commissioner Fried’s campaign for comment, but hasn’t yet received a response.
This is a developing story. Continue to follow FNN News.com for more updates.
__________________________________________
Mellissa Thomas is Editor for Florida National News, part of the the FNN News Network.