Race reconsidered

The committee considered three maps at its 13th meeting, but only two, submitted by committee members David Washington and Rishi Bagga, got the thumbs up. Each passed the committee by a 7-6 vote, with committee members Coy Jones and Tom Callan absent.

Two of the maps considered that night were Washington’s. His Washington-3 map was ultimately rejected, but it did spark a discussion about how much weight race should get as maps are redrawn. Much of the committee’s conversation over the past months has centered around creating or maintaining Black and Hispanic districts to ensure fair voting representation. 

But after committee member Angel de la Portilla noted that the Washington-3 map would lower District 6’s Black voting age population (VAP) to 37 percent from 48 percent and cautioned that “if you’re trying to create a second African American district to do so without really diluting too much of District 6,” he was rebuked by Assistant County Attorney Shonda White who said that race should not be a main consideration and should be “subordinate to the traditional redistricting principles.” 

She added, “If we inject race into this process when it doesn't need to be, we are opening the county up to litigation.” 

Camille Evans, the committee co-chair, echoed that traditional redistricting principles “are our North Star in this process.”

West Orange residents boost map

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Washington’s second map received a warmer reception. He described this map as “preserving communities of interest as best as possible, ensuring fair and legal representation [and] planning for responsible growth.” He said it met the needs expressed by each district’s residents, including those in West Orange County, which includes Ocoee, Winter Garden, Windermere, Oakland and Gotha. 

“District 2 [in this] map honors overwhelming public comment from municipal residents in West Orange … who asked to be separated from Horizon West to have greater focus on the unique needs of historical areas such as Apopka,” he said. 

The map moves Winter Garden and Oakland out of District 1, into District 2, joining Ocoee. Windermere stays in District 1.

In addition, the map splits Apopka and Orlando along with eight communities of interest, including Alafaya, Clarcona, Holden Heights, Oak Ridge, Pine Castle, Pine Hills, South Apopka and Union Park. Twenty-three voting precincts would be split. 

Committee member James Auffant disliked the population distribution in the map and said that they were just “kicking the bucket down the road” for the next decennial redistricting process in 2030. 

“We're giving District 6 almost 9,000 people more than it has right now, and, in 2030, I'm going to have to find a way to take them out and put them in some other place,” he said. “We're doing the same thing with District 7, and the new District 8 is almost 6,000 [people] short … We're going to have to deal with the problem that we did not want to deal with here today.”

But de la Portilla called the Washington-2 map “one of the best” he’d seen so far, commending Washington for keeping the cities of Ocoee, Apopka and Winter Garden together, as the three share common interests. 

“They're connected by the [West Orange] Trail. They've got similar issues. They've got growth,” de la Portilla said. “They need representation. Not only within their own cities, but they need county commissioners that could solve and help bridge the gap between the county and the cities and bring additional funding when funding is available.” 

Washington’s map garnered significant public support as well, primarily among West Orange County residents who said the proposal was the best reflection of their communities’ needs. 

West Orange County resident Todd Bryant said he backed Washington’s second map partly because it would address the “significant strain” that communities there were experiencing from rapid growth outpacing infrastructure planning. 

“Roads are congested, public facilities are under pressure and many of the services that families rely on are stretched very thin,” Bryant said. “That is why, in West Orange County, I have taken a strong interest in the Washington-2 map … [it] reflects the concept that many of us on the west side have long been advocating for. It's a clear delineation that allows both Horizon West and historic communities in the north to receive more tailored and focused representation.”

Teresa Snipes, a Winter Garden resident for 42 years, said her area has faced constant pressure over the years, such as the development of the Lake Avalon Rural Settlement. She noted that county protections would always be “fragile” and dependent on a voice to uphold them. 

“That is why I'm here tonight to support the Washington-2 map,” Snipes said. “This map keeps the [Lake] Avalon Rural Settlement where it needs to be … It creates a district that actually understands the difference between rural preservation and bad or suburban sprawl.”

West Orange County residents may have considered Washington-2 a win, but Rio Pinar resident Pedro Rodriguez said he disagreed with how the map reconfigured District 3, the county’s oldest Hispanic district, to encompass large portions of what is currently District 4’s area.

He said the move “doesn’t make sense” as it would remove Rio Pinar and other Hispanic communities from District 3 and split Pine Hills, whose residents have asked for one unified district, while increasing representation for larger municipalities already represented by their respective city councils. 

“There's been a lot of discussion from the people in … West Orange County, but I feel that given the distribution and the demographic changes in this county, [this map is] rather offensive for people who live in Pine Hills, as well as Hispanic communities in the south [and east] of Orange County,” Rodriguez said.

Bagga map maintains voting precincts

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Introducing his second map to the committee, Bagga, whose first attempt to get a map approved fell just short, said he aimed to keep Districts 3 and 6 as “whole as possible” while also maintaining a unified Pine Hills district and single districts for Lake Nona and Horizon West. The map splits Maitland and Orlando, and communities of interest including, Alafaya, Clarcona, Fairview Shores, Lockhart, Paradise Heights and Union Park.

On the west side, the map maintains Winter Garden, Oakland and Windermere in District 1 along with Horizon West. With this map, Ocoee would shift out of District 2 into the newly drawn District 7 along with Pine Hills, which would move out of District 6.

(In the third approved map, Winter Garden, Oakland, Windermere and Ocoee stay in the same districts they're in now.)

“You can't please everyone, and not everything is going to be preserved the way we want it to be,” Bagga said. “Not every single desire of ours is going to be achieved here, but I do think this does achieve a lot of those objectives and can hopefully be a working map going forward.”

Notably, Bagga’s map would not split any voting precincts. He said he decided to keep them intact after speaking with Dan Helms of the Orange County Supervisor of Elections office about the estimated associated costs ($3,000-$6,000 per precinct) when precincts are split. Bagga said the issue was “worthwhile for the committee to consider.”

“When we start splitting 20, 30, 40 precincts, that can really add up to a lot of money for a department that, quite frankly, has had money issues,” Bagga said, referring to the county elections office.  

Committee member Joe Kilsheimer backed Bagga’s map and its creation of two Black plurality districts in Districts 6 and 7. In a plurality district, a specific demographic may not be large enough to be the majority but can influence an election if aided by crossover votes from other demographics. However, de la Portilla argued, there were “better maps” that would not split up areas like Alafaya and Union Park.

Auffant expressed concern that the new District 8 was “almost 8,000 [people] short,” which would cause problems in future redistricting efforts.  

In an unexpected development, White, the attorney, said that election cycles and state statute, would require District 3 to be renumbered as the new District 8 in Bagga’s map. This would accommodate District 3 Commissioner Mayra Uribe whose term does not end until 2028. 

Florida statute stipulates commissioners from odd-numbered districts are elected in years that are multiples of four, while commissioners in even-numbered districts are elected in even-numbered years that are not multiples of four. This allows for staggered election cycles and ensures continuity on the commission. The new District 8 commissioner will be elected in 2026. 

White recommended an “easy fix,” swapping the numbers for Districts 3 and 8 so that Uribe would once again be within an odd-numbered district and serve the remainder of her term without conflict. 

But all the machinations may be unnecessary since Uribe announced in May that she is running for Orange County mayor in the 2026 election. 

Upcoming Meetings 

July 30

Aug. 6

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Aug. 28 

All meetings take place at 6 p.m. in the Board of County Commissioners Chambers at the Orange County Administration Center at 201 South Rosalind Avenue. Meetings are also live-streamed on Orange TV.