The race to succeed Jerry Demings, five County Commission seats, control of the School Board and key state and federal primaries make Aug. 18 one of Central Florida’s most consequential election days in years
By Marcos A. Tejeda
Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
The Sun Post News
ORLANDO, Fla. — Aug. 18, 2026. Voters across Orange County are heading to the polls today in an election that could reshape local government for years, beginning with the race to determine who will succeed term-limited Mayor Jerry Demings.
Polls opened at 7 a.m. and will remain open until 7 p.m. Voters who are in line by 7 p.m. are permitted to cast a ballot. On Election Day, voters must report to their assigned polling location.
Although today’s election is officially Florida’s Primary Election, the Orange County ballot includes several important nonpartisan races open to eligible voters regardless of political affiliation.
That means Democrats, Republicans and voters with no party affiliation may all have important local decisions to make today.
At stake are the Orange County mayor’s office, five County Commission districts, the chairmanship of the Orange County School Board, several School Board seats and judicial positions.
And some of those contests could potentially be decided tonight.
Who will succeed Jerry Demings?
The biggest local contest is undoubtedly the race for Orange County Mayor.
Demings is completing his second term and cannot seek another because of term limits, opening one of Central Florida’s most influential elected offices for the first time in eight years.
Four candidates are competing:
Stephanie Murphy
Tiffany Moore Russell
Mayra Uribe
Chris Messina
The office carries enormous influence over one of Florida’s largest and fastest-growing counties.
The next mayor will confront challenges involving affordable housing, transportation, traffic, public safety, tourism, infrastructure, economic development and the continuing transformation of communities across the Orlando metropolitan area.
Stephanie Murphy: from Congress to county government
Former U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy enters the race with significant name recognition.
Murphy represented Florida’s 7th Congressional District from 2017 through 2023 and is now attempting to return to elected office at the local level.
Her campaign has emphasized economic opportunity, housing, public safety and investments aimed at preventing youth crime.
Her political experience in Washington could be an advantage among voters familiar with her congressional career.
The challenge is different now: convincing Orange County residents that experience in Congress translates into running a large county government.
Mayra Uribe: experience from inside Orange County government
Mayra Uribe offers voters a different résumé.
As an Orange County commissioner representing District 3, Uribe has emphasized her direct knowledge of county operations, departments, budgets and the issues confronting residents.
Housing affordability, growth and quality of life have been central themes of her campaign.
Uribe’s candidacy also carries significance for Central Florida’s growing Hispanic electorate.
A victory would further demonstrate how dramatically Latino political influence has expanded throughout the Orlando metropolitan region.
Tiffany Moore Russell: a veteran of local government
Tiffany Moore Russell brings extensive local-government experience to the race.
She currently serves as Orange County Clerk of Courts and previously served on the County Commission.
Moore Russell has presented administrative experience as one of her principal qualifications, arguing that Orange County’s next mayor must be capable not only of proposing policies but of managing a large and complex government.
Housing has been one of the areas where differences among the candidates have emerged.
During the campaign, Moore Russell and Uribe notably differed over how affordable housing should be distributed and whether historically underserved communities should receive additional housing investment.
The disagreement reflects a much larger question facing Orange County:
Where should the county build the thousands of additional affordable homes it needs?
Chris Messina: the outsider alternative
Businessman Chris Messina rounds out the four-candidate field.
Messina presents voters with an alternative to three candidates who have substantial experience in elected or county government.
Although the mayoral race is officially nonpartisan, the candidates come from different political backgrounds, creating another potentially important dynamic.
With four candidates dividing the vote, tonight may not necessarily produce Orange County’s next mayor.
If no candidate receives the majority required to win outright, the top two finishers will advance to the November general election.
Five County Commission seats
The mayoral contest is only part of today’s political transformation.
County Commission seats in Districts 2, 4, 6, 7 and 8 are also on the ballot.
The significance is considerable.
Orange County could emerge from the 2026 election cycle with both a new mayor and a substantially different Board of County Commissioners.
That matters because the mayor cannot govern alone.
Major decisions involving development, transportation, housing, spending and land use require support from commissioners.
The real political question, therefore, is not simply who succeeds Demings.
It is also:
What kind of County Commission will the next mayor have to work with?
District 2: Apopka and northwest Orange County
Five candidates are competing in County Commission District 2:
Kamia Brown
Mike Crabb
Wes Hodge
George Oliver III
Marsha Summersill
The district includes communities in northwest Orange County, where rapid development has intensified concerns about roads, infrastructure, housing and public services.
For Apopka and surrounding communities, the fundamental issue resembles one facing much of Central Florida:
Can infrastructure keep pace with residential growth?
District 4
The District 4 contest includes:
Brian Jones
Johanna López
with Isabella Arthur running as a write-in candidate.
Growth and development are particularly significant for communities in eastern and southeastern Orange County, where residential construction continues to transform once less-developed areas.
District 6
Five candidates are competing in District 6:
Loody Delice
Lawanna Gelzer
Cynthia Harris
Hedder Pierre Joseph
Michael “Mike” Scott
The district includes urban communities where affordable housing, transportation, neighborhood investment, economic development and public safety remain major concerns.
District 7: a massive field
One of today’s most unpredictable elections is the contest for the new District 7 seat.
Thirteen candidates are competing:
Selina Carter, Shannon Currie, Nate Douglas, Shakaya “Kay” Filmore, Angie Gardner, Deidre Graybill, Rasheeda Doris Jones, Gloria C. Joyner, Aaron Emmanuel Lewis, Zach Moldof, Patricia Rumph, Beryl Thompson-McClary and Vicki Vargo.
With so many candidates dividing the electorate, reaching the threshold required to win outright becomes considerably more difficult.
District 7 is therefore one of the races most likely to remain unresolved after tonight.
District 8 highlights Central Florida’s changing electorate
The District 8 ballot includes:
Isaiah Louis Anderson
Tatiana Fernández
George Haas
Jeanette Quinones Hernandez
Julio Rocha
Victor M. Torres Jr.
The number of Hispanic candidates is another reflection of the demographic and political transformation occurring throughout Central Florida.
Puerto Rican, Venezuelan, Colombian, Dominican and other Latino communities have expanded rapidly across the region.
That demographic growth is increasingly translating into political participation — not only as voters, but as candidates for public office.
Orange County schools are also on the ballot
While the mayoral race will receive much of the attention, another election could have enormous consequences for families.
Voters are choosing the next Orange County School Board Chair.
The candidates are:
Alicia Farrant
Angie Gallo
The contest presents voters with competing visions regarding school funding, parental involvement, teacher recruitment and retention, student mental health, school safety and the future direction of public education.
Whoever wins will help lead one of Central Florida’s largest public institutions.
Three School Board districts
Additional School Board contests are also underway.
In District 1, voters are choosing between:
Melissa Lopez Marantes and David Shepard.
In District 2:
Marisol Lugo and Gloria Reina O’Neal.
And District 3 features:
Ilia Adorno, Diana Moore and Susanne Peña.
These races can sometimes receive less attention than mayoral and congressional campaigns, but School Board members make decisions directly affecting students, teachers and families throughout Orange County.
Judges matter, too
Judicial elections also appear on Orange County ballots.
For Florida’s Ninth Judicial Circuit, which covers Orange and Osceola counties, voters are considering candidates in several contested groups.
Group 1: Temika Hampton-Johnson, Charles Hart and Mikaela Nix.
Group 2: Christina Arguelles and Christie Lou Mitchell.
Group 31: Steve Kerestes and Kamilah Perry.
Orange County judicial Groups 5 and 17 are also being contested.
Judicial elections traditionally attract far less attention, but their consequences can last for years.
These judges will preside over cases involving families, businesses, victims and defendants throughout the region.
What Orlando residents are voting for
An important distinction could prevent confusion among voters.
Residents of the City of Orlando are not electing a new city mayor today.
They are, however, Orange County residents.
Therefore, eligible Orlando voters participate in the Orange County mayoral race and other countywide contests, along with the district, judicial, state and federal races applicable to their address.
The City of Orlando and Orange County are separate governments.
The same distinction applies throughout Orange County’s municipalities.
Apopka, Ocoee, Winter Garden, Winter Park and Maitland
Residents of municipalities including Apopka, Ocoee, Winter Garden, Windermere, Winter Park and Maitland also participate in countywide elections for which they are eligible.
However, today’s ballot should not be confused with each city’s own municipal election calendar.
Orange County contains multiple municipalities, and municipal races are held according to their respective election schedules.
A resident’s exact ballot therefore depends on address, district boundaries and — for partisan primaries — political-party registration.
Florida’s closed primary system
That distinction becomes particularly important today because Florida operates primarily under a closed primary system.
Registered Republicans generally vote in Republican partisan primaries.
Registered Democrats generally vote in Democratic partisan primaries.
Voters with no party affiliation generally cannot vote in those partisan primaries, except under specific circumstances such as a universal primary contest.
But eligible voters can still participate in the nonpartisan local races appearing on their ballots.
That includes important Orange County contests.
An independent voter who assumes there is “nothing to vote for” today could therefore be mistaken.
Florida’s race for governor begins taking shape
Today’s election will also help determine who competes for Florida governor in November.
Gov. Ron DeSantis cannot seek another consecutive term because of term limits.
Among Republicans, the campaign has featured prominent candidates including Byron Donalds and Jay Collins, while Democrats are also choosing their nominee from a competitive field.
The result will begin defining Florida’s post-DeSantis political era.
U.S. Senate also on the ballot
Florida voters are additionally participating in the special election cycle for the U.S. Senate seat previously held by Marco Rubio.
Republican Sen. Ashley Moody is seeking to advance to November, while Democrats are selecting their challenger.
Those races, along with congressional and Florida legislative primaries, vary according to a voter’s district and party registration.
A mail-ballot problem is being watched
Orange County’s election preparations were not entirely without complications.
Election officials acknowledged that a printing issue affected approximately 1% of mail ballots, prompting procedures to reproduce the affected ballots correctly so they could be counted.
Officials have established a process to address the issue, and there has been no public evidence that it compromises the overall integrity of the election.
Nevertheless, it is an issue worth watching as ballots are canvassed and results certified.
Election Day ends at 7 p.m.
Orange County polling locations remain open until 7 p.m.
Unlike early voting, Election Day voters must report to their assigned precinct.
The Orange County Supervisor of Elections provides voters with tools to confirm their polling location and review the specific races appearing on their ballot.
Orange County Supervisor of Elections
Anyone in line when polls close at 7 p.m. should remain in line and will be allowed to vote.
What is really at stake
It would be a mistake to view Aug. 18 merely as preparation for November.
For Orange County, today’s election could be decisive.
The county is growing.
Housing costs continue pressuring working families.
Traffic and transportation remain major concerns.
New development is transforming communities.
Schools are adjusting to demographic change.
And Central Florida’s Hispanic population continues expanding its political influence.
At the same time, Jerry Demings’ departure creates a rare transition at the top of county government.
The next mayor will inherit all of those challenges.
But that mayor will not govern alone.
A potentially transformed County Commission will help determine how billions of public dollars are spent and where Orange County develops next.
School Board elections will influence the future of public education.
Judicial elections will determine who occupies courtrooms affecting residents every day.
And state and federal primaries will help shape Florida’s political choices in November.
For Orange County, Aug. 18 is much more than Primary Election Day.
It is a decision about who will manage the next chapter of one of Florida’s fastest-changing regions.
When polls close tonight, The Sun Post News will follow the results from Orange County and across Central Florida, including the mayoral race, County Commission contests and other key elections as the first returns are reported.
