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It’s 7:42 a.m. and Oakland Commissioner Joseph McMullen, clad in a Caribbean blue Re-Elect Joseph McMullen campaign T-shirt, is setting up a table at the turn-in to Oakland Presbyterian Church on Oakland Avenue. This is where the Town of Oakland votes.
Polls have been open for 42 minutes, and so far nine people have stopped in to cast their ballots. That includes former Commissioner Rick Polland, who stepped down from the commission in 2024, and his wife Tammy. They’ve come to help out Team McMullen and are now clustered around the table with former Commissioner Sal Ramos who chose not to run for re-election this year. There’s hot coffee to take the chill off the early morning and a box of Dunkin’ Donuts.
McMullen, a pharmacist and founder of the youth music nonprofit HAPCO, has been Oakland’s Seat 4 commissioner since 2006. But today’s election is the first where he’s had to face a challenger — Anne Fulton. (She opted to set up down the block at Oakland Avenue and Tubb Street and told VoxPopuli by phone that she'd have a comment after the polls closed tonight.)
“The election,” McMullen told VoxPopuli, “has been a blessing.” He said he put his personal cell phone number on his campaign literature and heard from many residents about traffic, infrastructure, water bills, the surveillance cameras, housing.
“ If it wasn't for the election, I wouldn't have had those calls,” he said. “It's good to get those conversations when you think everything is going right and people are not concerned, but when you sit down and you peel back that onion, people are concerned about certain things and you just don't know it.”
McMullen added that the election is “about the people that live here.” Should he win re-election, he said, “I’m not gonna make any decisions that’s going to benefit me only. Whatever happens, I’m a resident too and I want the best for this town.”
But first, people have to vote. McMullen anticipates about 10 percent voter turnout.
“Everybody has a voice. You know, I’m an African American male. My father couldn’t vote when he was a young man," he said, emphasizing that he means father not grandfather. "So I understand the power to vote. I understand the importance of a vote. I understand what has to happen to make things equitable for everyone. ... My mother, growing up in Miami, she’d been told to go in the back door. … So I understand the power of voting and having your voice heard. Everyone has to be part of the process.”
Polls will be open until 7 p.m. Mail-in ballots must be returned to the Supervisor of Elections office today at 119 W. Kaley Street, Orlando by 7 p.m. to be counted.
