“It’s a midterm, so that’s why,” observed Jason, 52, a product development director, who preferred not to give his last name.

He was among the voters VoxPopuli spoke with Tuesday who said property taxes were a key issue in this election. First and Second Amendment issues were also primary issues for him. He chose former Sheriff’s Lieutenant Mike Crabb for District 2 Commissioner. “I’m not a fan of the current commissioner so it made sense that he wasn’t going to go to the next level," he said. He also chose Chris Messina for Orange County Mayor “because I thought he was closest to my value system.”

For Sharma Jones, 57, a property manager, her vote was all about property taxes. “That was the main thing I really looked for, if [candidates] supported or they did not support it because I don’t support it,” she said. She noted that Ocoee’s fire fee increase is going to be addressed tonight at the city commission meeting. (City Hall, 6:15 p.m.) “So, no matter what, you’re going to pay. If they’re going to do that already, you know more is coming after that. So it makes no sense to make a change on a constitutional amendment with something that’s not gonna be feasible for the community.”

Jones declined to share who she ultimately voted for, but said that when it came to District 2 County Commissioner, she had been “really torn” between George Oliver III, Wes Hodge and Kamia Brown. “They’re all highly qualified,” she said. For Orange County Mayor, she said she vacillated between Tiffany Moore Russell and Stephanie Murphy. “I’m not a news watcher. Everything I look at, I read. When you read, you really can get an understanding of where they’re coming from.”

Gemma, 37, a nurse who preferred not to give her last name, said her key issues were taxes, education and “how we’re catering to homeowners.” She marked her ballot for Kamia Brown for District 2 County Commission and chose Roberta Walton Johnson for the Clerk of Courts.

She said her whole family had discussed the candidates together. “Rick Singh had a really long run, so as a family we thought that Roberta was better this year,” she said. “We’re just looking for a change. Like, you can’t expect something to change unless you advocate for a change.”

Greg, 63, came out to vote with his son who was voting for the second time. His son didn’t want to comment, but Greg, who did not want to share his last name, told VoxPopuli that social justice and income inequality were key issues for him. In the governor’s race he said he chose a candidate that he thought “could compete in the fall.” He picked Democrats David Jolly and Gwen Graham. For Orange County Mayor, he voted for Stephanie Murphy who he said has “a record that I appreciate and she stands for the things that I think we need.”

Tanner Hall in Winter Garden was the busiest poll location in  Orange County. By 4:50 p.m., it had seen 564 voters, according to the Orange County Supervisor of Elections site.

Among them was Ron, 78, retired, who told VoxPopuli he was looking for a qualified representative for Congress. His pick was Carey Baker who spent 12 years in the Florida House and Senate. “There seems to be a little bit too much bravado coming from a couple of the other candidates,” he said.

Winter Garden social worker Addie Hartnett, 36, said LGBTQ+ issues were important. “I am always concerned that there’s not really any queer representation in the Winter Garden local government. And I think about the time when they kind of ran an LGBTQ-owned business from downtown Winter Garden a lot,” he said. I’m always looking for candidates who are going to maybe even consider like queer people in general and our needs and wants here in Winter Garden.”

He said he was still doing his homework, but was leaning toward Tiffany Moore Russell for Orange County Mayor because of the Operation Green Light workshops she organized as Clerk of Court to help people pay off their court fines and fees and get their driver’s licenses back.

“Tons of people I work with have tons of fees on their license and they can’t drive anymore so they can’t work basically,” Hartnett said. “I thought that whole set of workshops were really cool.”

David and Noreen, a retired couple, told VoxPopuli that they voted for mayor based on the yard signs in their neighborhood.

“I just kind of looked at the yards in my neighborhood and there was a particular name — Messina — that I saw a lot,” Noreen said. “Plus, when I was growing up in New York, our neighbors were Messinas.”

Orange County Mayoral candidate Chris Messina was at Tanner Hall earlier in the day. “We’ve had multiple people walk up to us and say I voted for you; can I take a picture with you? which has been really great,” he said.

He said he felt positive about the campaign. “I’ve been the only candidate that’s had a ground game,” he said. “I don’t know how many doors I’ve knocked, but knocking doors all over the east side, west side, north, south. I think that’s helped us level the ground because you know the fundraising numbers; they’re public. The other candidates are super-well-funded relative to us. So we’re making up for it on our ground game.”