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Updated at 8:25 p.m. to include Mike Crabb's statement.
An earlier version of this article left out District 2 candidate Wes Hodge. VoxPopuli regrets the error.
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday appointed Orange County Sheriff’s Lieutenant Mike Crabb of Ocoee to fill the vacant District 2 seat on the Orange County Commission. The seat opened when County Commissioner Christine Moore resigned in April to run unsuccessfully for mayor of Apopka.
According to Florida Statute 114.04, the governor has the authority to appoint a replacement to serve out the remainder of an elected official’s term or to serve “until the first Tuesday after the first Monday following the next general election.” The next general election is Nov. 3.
Crabb, 59, a 36-year veteran of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office who also operates The Shirt Shop USA in downtown Ocoee, is running in the upcoming Aug. 18 election for the same seat the governor appointed him to.
Crabb is a Republican facing a field of Democrats: Marsha Summersill, a private practice attorney of Apopka; former State Rep. Kamia Brown of Ocoee; Ocoee City Commissioner George Oliver III; and Wes Hodge, chief of staff for Orange County Commissioner Dr. Kelly Martinez Semrad.
The election is nonpartisan.
Crabb told VoxPopuli that his campaign is focused on strengthening public safety and improving infrastructure. His goal is to leave District 2 "stronger, safer and better prepared for the future" by investing in roads, stormwater systems, sewer conversions and other long-term infrastructure projects.
Crabb has been married to his wife Pamela for 39 years and has two sons, a daughter and a granddaughter.
Reached by phone Friday evening, Crabb told VoxPopuli that DeSantis had told him about the appointment this afternoon — and that he was “super excited.”
“The biggest part is that there’s now representation for District 2 that hasn't had any since April 27 [when Moore resigned]. So that's why I'm so excited because there's actually now a voice on that board for my district."
Crabb said that he’d applied for the appointment to fill the Orange County Commission vacancy months ago, but had given up on it.
“I thought that time had passed,” he said. “[Gov. DeSantis] just really wasn’t making any appointments. So I was just plugging along, working hard on my campaign to try to get it. So technically it was a surprise because I wasn’t expecting it.”
The appointment technically makes Crabb the incumbent — though how much of an advantage that confers in the 18 days before the election is anybody's guess. And the seat is no longer open. But Crabb said that for him, not much will really change. He will retire from the sheriff’s office and then spend his days working on behalf of the residents of District 2 while campaigning to get elected to that position in the evenings and weekends.
" I'm working really hard in Apopka to make sure they know I'm not gonna forget about them. But I would love to have an Ocoee resident represent on the county commission, so I'm super excited about that."
This is a developing story.
