Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried plans to fight Gov. Ron DeSantis if he continues pressing forward with the appointment of a secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection without formal backing from the state Cabinet.

Fried, a Democratic candidate for governor, might be on her own as the two Republican members of the Cabinet — Attorney General Ashley Moody and Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis — haven’t expressed similar indignation about the governor’s move to unilaterally make the appointment.