Ryan Ray
As state lawmakers in Tallahassee move forward with a plan that could completely remake the Orlando-area 10th Congressional District, Val Demings plans to announce her plans to again run for the U.S. House seat.
As first reported by Orlando Sentinel‘s Scott Powers, Demings, the former City of Orlando police chief will seek a rematch of her 2012 campaign where she was bested by U.S. Rep. Dan Webster by a 52-48 margin in a Democratic-leaning year.
“The shot at the American dream that my parents worked hard to provide for their children is getting slimmer especially for people who grew up like me,” said Demings in a statement Monday. “The current leadership in Washington and Congressman Dan Webster are failing to provide the opportunities and support to working families in Florida and across the country.”
Now that a redrawn CD 10 – which Webster said last week would “disfavor” the incumbent – seems highly likely to lose conservative suburbs north of Orlando and pick up thousands of black Democrats drawn out of U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown‘s district, the rematch would take place on much different terrain.
Demings was seen as one of Florida Democrats’ best hope to flip a Republican-held seat in 2012 when she mounted bid to knock off the locally popular Webster, who served for decades in the state Legislature, ascending to the ranks of Speaker of the House and Senate majority leader before terming out in 2008.
Along the way Demings picked up support from several national organizations – including New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg‘s Independence USA super PAC – who saw in her a young rising star.
Demings brings a unique background to the fray as an African-American moderate Dem who, along with her husband Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings, brings to the table support from both law enforcement as well as those who seek criminal justice reform.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee attempted to recruit her for a CD-10 run in 2014, but she chose to sit out the race in a GOP-leaning midterm election cycle.
Demings rankled local Democrats – including Orlando’s many progressives, who have often been at odds with Demings – when she instead ran for Orange County mayor, before dropping out citing undisclosed medical reasons. That left Republican Mayor Teresa Jacobs to run effectively unopposed.
She told the Sentinel that she has learned a lot from her 2012 and 2014 losses.
“What makes this race different from 2012? Number one, I’m going to win. But the reason I am going to win is I am a better candidate,” she told Powers Monday. “I’ve learned so much since 2012. I’ve had an opportunity to continue to travel and talk to people not as a candidate, when they really open up and talk to you. I have not stopped that. I’m wiser.”
