There are roughly a couple dozen Orange County seats up for election this year, from County Commission seats to school board races and others. Additionally, there are also state House, Senate, and U.S. House and Senate seats up for election.
Some races, including a local school board race, became contentious. Campaign season kicked off with disparaging mailers and candidates pointing to their opponents' revealing campaign contributors and track records.
Florida is a closed primary state, meaning if a race is partisan, you will only see candidates on your ballot that are registered with the same party you are (with few exceptions). School board races and some others (including county commissioner and judicial office races) are nonpartisan, and will show up on your ballot regardless of your party affiliation.
The only statewide office on all voters' ballots was for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Republican Rick Scott, who garnered several challengers on the Democratic side — one of whom will face off against Scott in November. (We won't spoil it: Read below.)
Proposed constitutional amendments, including a ballot measure that seeks to enshrine abortion rights into Florida's state constitution, will appear on the General Election ballot in November.
State of play
Going into Election Day, more than 1.9 million voters in Florida had already cast their ballots, either through vote-by-mail or during the early voting period. As of about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday morning, voter turnout in Orange County, specifically, stood at about 12 percent. By the time the polls closed at 7 p.m., voter turnout was at 16 percent, with just under 129,000 out of 811,612 eligible voters having cast their votes.
As of Election Day, there were 326,469 voters registered as Democrats in the Democratic-leaning Orange County, according to county data — representing about 38 percent of registered voters — as well as 217,407 registered Republican voters, 248,723 registered with "No Party Affiliation" and 24,056 registered as "Other."
As of Wednesday morning, here are all of the Primary Election Results pertinent to the Orange County/Orlando area and unopposed candidates up for re-election this year:
Election results
Note: The winner of each race is listed in bold font.
You can view Election Results posted on the Orange County SOE's Office here and state election results here.
U.S. SENATE
Democratic Party:
- Stanley Campbell
- Debbie Mucarsel-Powell
- Rod Joseph
- Brian Rush
- Rick Scott
- Keith Gross
- John S. Columbus
U.S. House District 9
Democratic Party:
- Darren Soto (incumbent, unchallenged)
- Jose Castillo
- Thomas Chalifoux
- John "Q" Quinones
Democratic Party:
- Wade Darius
- Maxwell Alejandro Frost (incumbent)
- V. "Issa" White
- Tuan Le
- Willie J. Montague
State Attorney
Republican Party:
- Thomas Feiter
- Seth Hyman
Public Defender
- Lenora Easter (DEM)
- Melissa Vickers (DEM)
FLORIDA SENATE
Florida Senate District 13
Democratic Party:
- Stephanie Dukes (unopposed)
- "CJ" Blancett
- Bowen Kou
- Keith Truenow
Democratic Party:
- Randolph Bracy
- Geraldine Thompson
Florida Senate District 17
Democratic Party:
- Carlos Guillermo Smith (unopposed)
Florida Senate District 25
Democratic Party:
- Kristen Arrington
- Alan Grayson
- Carmen Torres
- Jon H. Arguello
- Jose Martinez
Florida House District 37
Democratic Party:
- Nate Douglas (unopposed)
- Susan Plasencia (incumbent; unopposed)
Democratic Party:
- Sarah Henry (unopposed)
- David Smith (incumbent; unopposed)
Democratic Party:
- Marsha Summersil (unopposed)
- Doug Bankson (incumbent; unopposed)
Democratic Party:
- LaVon Bracy Davis (incumbent; unopposed)
- Belinda Ford (unopposed)
Democratic Party:
- Bruce Antone (incumbent)
- Jane't Buford Johnson
Florida House District 42
Democratic Party:
- Anna Eskamani (incumbent; unopposed)
- Gregory Pull (unopposed)
Democratic Party:
- Johanna Lopez (incumbent; unopposed)
- Joseph "Joe" Melendez (unopposed)
Democratic Party:
- Jennifer "Rita" Harris (incumbent)
- Daisy Morales
Florida House District 45
Democratic Party:
- Leonard Spencer (unopposed)
- Carolina Amesty (incumbent; unopposed)
Tax Collector:
Democratic Party:
- David Nelson Freeman
- Scott Randolph (incumbent)
Note #2: The Clerk of Courts, Property Appraiser and County Comptroller seats were up for reelection this year, but were uncontested. The Sheriff and Supervisor of Elections races will be on the November ballot.
NONPARTISAN COUNTY OFFICE
Orange County Board of Commissioners — District 1
- Nicole Wilson (incumbent)
- Austin Arthur
This race was too close to call, with Wilson leading Arthur by just five votes as of Wednesday morning. Therefore, both candidates will head to a runoff in November.
- Mayra Uribe (incumbent)
- Linda Stewart
- Gus Martinez
While Uribe led the three candidates in the polls (garnering 44 percent of the vote), this race will also head to a runoff in November, with Uribe facing off against Stewart for the District 3 seat.
- Joy Goff-Marcil
- Steve Leary
- Joel Antonio Montilla
- Kelly Semrad
While Semrad led the pack with the highest number of votes (41% of the vote), this race will also head to a runoff in November, where Semrad will face off against Leary, who trailed behind her in the polls.
- Anne Douglas
- Kyle Roger Goudy
- Jake Petroski
While Goudy led the pack in this race, receiving 37 percent of the vote, he did not surpass the required 50% threshold to avoid a runoff. Therefore, in November, Goudy will face off against Douglas, who came in second place Tuesday, in a runoff election for the District 4 seat.
- Vicki-Elaine Felder (incumbent; unchallenged)
- Jeni Grieger
- Stephanie Vanos
- Melissa Mitchell-Byrd (incumbent; unchallenged)
Circuit Judge, 9th Judicial Circuit, Group 5
- Joy Goodyear
- LaShawnda K. Jackson
- Jeffrey Ashton
- Chris Mack
- Alicia L. Peyton
- Jason Willis
- Tanya Davis Wilson
- Stephen Brown
- Craig McCarthy
- Lisa Gong Guerrero
- Adam McGinnis
Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | or sign up for our RSS Feed