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On Tuesday, Orange County saw two notable political results. Quinnie Perez made history by becoming Florida's first openly transgender elected official. Meanwhile, Republican State Rep. Doug Bankson, who represented Winter Garden and Apopka, lost his bid for a third term. These outcomes represent a step forward for LGBTQ+ representation and a loss for a leading conservative in the Florida Legislature.
In other races, Tiffany Moore Russell easily won her bid to become Orange County’s next mayor. At the same time, former State Rep. Kamia Brown handily defeated Commissioner Mike Crabb to represent District 2 on the Orange County Commission. In the 11th Congressional District, Republican Joe Strada will succeed U.S. Rep. Daniel Webster, who announced his retirement earlier this year.
Voters split the difference on the ballot amendments, rejecting Amendments 1 and 2 with 40.9 percent and 58 percent of the vote, respectively. But they passed Amendment 3, which will raise the homestead property tax exemption starting next year. Amendment 3 passed with 62 percent of the vote.
The 1-mill school district tax passed overwhelmingly with 74 percent.
Turnout Tuesday in Orange County was strong, with the Supervisor of Elections Office reporting 57 percent participation.
Quinnie Perez made history Tuesday night, becoming the first transgender person elected to public office in Florida. She bested two opponents to win Seat 1 on the Orange Soil and Water Conservation District Board of Supervisors.
“ I'm ecstatic right now!” Perez told VoxPopuli at her watch party at the Bookburn Cafe & Social after she’d been declared the winner. “I'm so happy that someone like me — a trans person — is able to gain some kind of political power. You know, here in Florida that's something that we've never had. And it's just amazing to be able to see that the voters saw somebody like me and they gave me a chance.”
Perez, 32, captured 36.6 percent of the vote, ahead of 31.7 percent for Publix assistant grocery manager Doug Sahr and 17.9 percent for foreign legal consultant Vicente Rafael Pérez Carreño. The district encompasses Windermere, Winter Garden, Horizon West, Tildenville and other areas. Water Conservation District supervisors are unpaid, nonpartisan public officials; they serve four-year terms.
Perez told VoxPopuli that her priorities were to advocate for migrant farmworkers, robust storm water infrastructure and preservation of green spaces.
It was a big night for Black women candidates in Orange County. Democrat Tiffany Moore Russell, 52, the former Orange County Clerk of Courts, easily defeated Republican entrepreneur Chris Messina, 67, in the runoff for Orange County mayor, receiving 58.7 percent of the vote to 34.8 percent for Messina.
Messina and Russell, who had served as Clerk of Courts since 2014 before stepping down Aug. 31 to run for mayor, advanced to a runoff after the Aug. 18 election. In the four-candidate race, they were the top two vote-getters after no candidate received more than 50 percent of the votes needed to win.
In an Instagram post, Moore Russell’s campaign thanked voters for “showing up … This campaign was built by neighbors who knocked doors in the heat, made calls after long workdays, and believed that our county deserves leadership that listens. Tiffany is deeply grateful to every volunteer, donor, and voter who stood with her on this journey.”
Democrat Roberta Walton Johnson of Ocoee won the race for Orange County Clerk of Courts, defeating Orlando tech consultant Terrell Thomas, who has no party affiliation. Walton Johnson, 52, assumes the office after serving as its general counsel. She succeeds Moore Russell, Orange County’s mayor-elect. Walton Johnson garnered 65.8 percent of the vote, while Thomas received 27.8 percent.
Thomas conceded with grace, writing on social media, “Tonight, while the election results were not what we had hoped for, my heart is filled with gratitude, humility, and appreciation for every person who believed in me and the Clerk Forward vision. First, I want to extend my sincere congratulations to Roberta Walton Johnson on her victory. She ran a respectful and dignified race, and I commend her for that. I wish her tremendous success as she prepares to lead the Orange County Clerk of Courts. Now is the time to come together, not pull apart. I encourage each of you to rally around your new Clerk, give her leadership a fair opportunity, and work together to move this organization forward. The success of the Clerk’s Office is greater than any one candidate, campaign, or election. When the Clerk’s Office succeeds, our employees, our courts, and the people of Orange County succeed.”
In the runoff for District 2 of the Orange County Commission, former State Rep. Kamia Brown of Ocoee defeated Commissioner Mike Crabb. Brown received nearly 59 percent of the vote, compared with 34.3 percent for Crabb. The two had emerged as the top two vote getters from a five-candidate election in which no one received more than 50 percent to win outright.
Crabb had been appointed to the county commission by Gov. Ron DeSantis days before early voting began for the Aug. 18 election. He filled the vacancy created when former Commissioner Christine Moore resigned in April for an unsuccessful run for mayor of Apopka.
Orange County District 2 includes Ocoee, Apopka, Tangerine, Zellwood and the census-designated areas Clarcona, Paradise Heights and Lockhart.
Over on the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court, attorney Temika Hampton-Johnson defeated attorney Charles Hart in the Group 1 runoff. The Aug. 18 election ousted sitting Circuit Court Judge Mikaela Nix, and with this runoff, Hampton-Johnson secured her seat on the bench with more than 59 percent of the vote to Hart's 30 percent.
Hampton-Johnson thanked her voters, volunteers, and donors for supporting her. “This win is yours too,” Hampton-Johnson said on her Facebook page. “Here's to a courtroom where everyone is seen, heard, and treated with fairness and dignity.”
In a surprise upset, first-time candidate Democrat Jarod Fox of Winter Garden defeated two-term incumbent Republican Rep. Doug Bankson of Apopka in the race for Florida House District 39. The district includes Winter Garden, Apopka, and part of Seminole County. Fox, a physician who chairs Orlando Health’s infectious disease department, received 55.4 percent of the vote. Bankson, 63, founder and senior pastor of the Victory Church World Outreach Center, received 44.6 percent. Flipping this seat helped break the Republican supermajority.
Fox posted on Facebook that his campaign “has been a labor of love” and thanked his supporters. “Throughout this campaign, I've heard from families concerned about the rising costs of healthcare, housing, and groceries, and neighbors ready for leadership that puts people before politics. I'm honored to have earned your trust and look forward to bringing your voices to Tallahassee as your next State Representative.”
In House District 40, incumbent State Rep. RaShon Young, 27, an Orlando Democrat, easily defeated Republican Tuan Le, an entrepreneur from Apopka, winning his first full term of his own with nearly 74 percent of the vote to 24.5 percent for Le. This was a rematch of the special election held in last year to fill the vacancy when State Rep. LaVon Bracy Davis ran for and won a state senate seat. (Young won 75 percent of the vote in that election.) Le was tapped to run by Orange County members of the Republican State Executive Committee after the original candidate bowed out of the race.
Young thanked his supporters for contributing, canvassing, putting up signs, and making calls. “This campaign tell [sic] a story of community, connection, and people who believe in what we can accomplish together. Through long days and even a little rain, you kept showing up. I am grateful beyond words,” he posted on Facebook. He added that he is committed to “show up, listen, and do the work.”
Democratic incumbent Leonard Spencer fended off a challenge from Orange County GOP Chair Erin Huntley to hold onto his House District 45 seat for a second term. Spencer, 55, received about 55 percent of the vote compared to about 45 percent for Huntley. The district includes Oakland, Winter Garden, Windermere, the Disney area, and parts of Osceola County.
In Congressional District 11, which includes heavily Republican Sumter County and parts of Orange and Lake counties, Republican businessman Joe Strada defeated Democratic attorney James Pericola and Libertarian Party nominee Ralph Groves for the seat that opened when Republican Daniel Webster, who spent 16 years in Congress, announced his retirement in April.
Strada received about 53 percent of the vote, while Pericola received nearly 46 percent. Pericola served in the second Clinton administration and was a legislative aide to the late U.S. Sen. Bob Graham. Groves, a career U.S. Army veteran and former federal employee, received about 1 percent.
“I am incredibly grateful to have earned the trust and support of Central Floridians and look forward to fighting for the people who make this part of our state so special,” Strada posted on Facebook. I want to thank my beautiful wife Karen and our family for their love, patience and support.”
Norine Dworkin contributed reporting.
