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2024 Primary Candidate Profiles

During election season, the question I get asked most often is What do you know about the judges?

 

Readers often tell me they don’t know who to vote for or where to find information on judges. So this year, we expanded our Voting Guide specifically to include the candidates running for the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court as well as Orange County Court. Judges aren’t permitted to discuss political issues or potential rulings, so we asked them about judicial temperament, maintaining the integrity of the court and how they interpret the law. But the issue you'll find that comes up most often is wrangling the caseload of the docket. 

 

The election to find a successor to Bill Cowles as Orange County Supervisor of Elections is no doubt one of the most consequential local elections this year. The Republican Party is already laying the foundation to contest the 2024 election. Claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen were widely disproven — by former President Trump's own inner circle of advisors.  But because perpetuating false claims undermines faith in our free, fair and secure electoral process, we asked all of the candidates in the Supervisor of Elections Democratic primary how they would handle future claims of election fraud here in Orange County if they were elected.

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We typically cover the state and Congressional races for legislators representing our corner of West Orange, but now our guide also includes the races for School Board District 4, Public Defender, State Attorney and Orange County Commission District 1. 

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To assemble this guide, we sat down with every candidate who consented to interview and did extra research on those who didn't. (Those who declined our interview invitations include Republican Congressman Daniel Webster, Republican State Rep. Keith Truenow and his opponent Cheryl "CJ" Blancett, currently awaiting trial on felony grand theft, and Democrat Randolph Bracy III.)  

 

Using Intelius, we ran background checks, poured through candidates' social media channels and fact-checked our information. Along the way, we covered a host of election-related stories in our new dedicated Elections section. 

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Staff for this project included myself, VoxPopuli contributing reporter Kathryn Brudzinski,  University of Central Florida journalism interns Andrea Charur, Lucy Dillon and Jake Bell and freelance editor Dibya Sarkur.

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Some election profiles are still being finalized. We will activate the buttons for those races as all profiles are complete.

 

For VoxPopuli's endorsements click HERE. 

— Norine Dworkin

Editor in Chief​​​​

Congressional District 11 — Republican Primary

The winner faces Democrat nominee Barbie Harden Hall on Nov. 5. 

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Congressman

Daniel Webster

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John McCloy

Candidate

Senate District 15 
 

This is an open primary for all voters. The winner goes to Tallahassee.  

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State Sen. 

Geraldine F. Thompson

Incumbent

Bracy and Thompson

Randolph

Bracy III
Candidate

State Senate District 13 — Republican Primary 
 

The winner faces Democrat nominee Stephanie Dukes on Nov. 5. 

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State Sen.

Keith Truenow

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Cheryl "CJ" Blancett

Candidate

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Bowen Kou

Candidate

House District 41
 

This is an open primary for all voters.  The winner goes to Tallahassee. 

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State Rep. 

Bruce Antone

Incumbent

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Janét Marie

Buford-Johnson
Candidate

Orange County Supervisor of Elections  

ELECTION RESCHEDULED NOV. 5  
 

Friday, Aug. 16, Chief Judge Lisa Munyon of the Ninth Circuit Court removed independent candidate Cynthia Harris from the ballot for improperly paying her qualifying fee and then forging a document to cover it up. All ballots cast are now null. The Democratic primary is canceled and the race will be opened to all voters on Nov. 5. 

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Wes Hodge
Candidate

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Sunshine

Linda-Marie Grund
Candidate

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Karen Castor Dentel 
Candidate

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Dan Helm
Candidate

Orange County School Board,
District 4 — Nonpartisan


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This is an open election for all voters.  The winner gets the school board seat. 
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Anne Douglas

Candidate

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Jacob "Jake" Petroski
Candidate

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Kyle Goudy
Candidate

State Attorney, Ninth Judicial Circuit — Republican Primary
 

The winner faces former State Attorney, Democrat Monique Worrell and serving independent State Attorney, Andrew Bain on Nov. 5. 

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Thomas Feiter
Candidate

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Seth Hyman
Candidate

Public Defender, Ninth Judicial Circuit Court
Orange & Osceola Counties — Nonpartisan
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With long-serving Public Defender Robert Wesley retiring, this is the first time the Public Defender's office has been on the ballot in 24 years. Regardless of who wins, the office will have a woman at the helm for the first time in history. 

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Mellissa Vickers 
Candidate

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Lenora Easter
Candidate

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Joy Goodyear
Candidate

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LaShawnda K. Jackson
Candidate

Ninth Judicial Circuit Court Judge Group 5 — Nonpartisan 

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This is an open election for all voters.  
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Ninth Judicial Circuit Court Judge Group 15 — Nonpartisan
 

This is an open election for all voters. 

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Judge

Jeffrey L.  Ashton

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Chris Mack
Candidate

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Alicia Peyton
Candidate

Ninth Judicial Circuit Court Judge Group 37 — Nonpartisan

  

This is an open election for all voters. 

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Judge Tanya

Davis Wilson

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Jason Willis
Candidate

Ninth Judicial Circuit Court Judge Group 43 — Nonpartisan
  

This is an open election for all voters. 

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Judge 

Craig McCarthy

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Stephen Brown 
Candidate

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Judge

Adam K. McGinnis

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Lisa Gong

Guerrero 
Candidate

Orange County Court Judge Group 11 — Nonpartisan  

This is an open election for all voters.  
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Orange County Commission District 1 — Nonpartisan
 

This election is open to all District 1 voters. 

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Commissioner

Nicole Wilson

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Austin Arthur
Candidate

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