Jacob Ogles
Democrats in Senate District 25 selected state Rep. Kristen Arrington as the Democratic nominee to succeed state Sen. Vic Torres. The Kissimmee Democrat beat out former U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson and community leader Carmen Torres, the outgoing Senator’s wife.
WIth all counties reporting, Arrington won the Democratic Primary with about 51%, while Torres won about 26% and Grayson took just under 24%.
“All the results are in!” Arrington posted on X. “Thank you so much Senate District 25 voters for electing me to be your Democratic nominee for the November 5th election! I appreciate the help of our volunteers, supporters, and campaign team.”
Meanwhile, businessman Jose Martinez won the Republican Primary with more than 59% to Osceola County School Board member Jon Arguello’s 41%.
Arrington entered the race no stranger to a political battle. She emerged from a six-Democrat Primary field in 2020 to win a Florida House seat, then cruised to re-election with 58% of the vote to Republican Christian de la Torre’s 39% in 2022.
That was hardly her first introduction to politics. She is married to Osceola County Commissioner Brandon Arrington, and mother-in-law Mary Jane Arrington has served as Osceola County’s Supervisor of Elections for years. Arrington also served as a political consultant in the region for more than a decade before running herself.
“I grew up right here in Osceola,” Kristen Arrington said in a campaign ad. “This community means so much to me. That’s why I first ran for office and why everyday I’m fighting the extremists in Tallahassee putting us all at risk.”
Torres, an Orlando Democrat, also has been part of a political dynasty in the region. Husband Victor has served in the Florida Senate since 2016, and before then spent two terms in the Florida House. Additionally, the couple’s daughter, Amy Mercado, serves as Orange County Property Appraiser.
Before coming to Florida, Carmen and Victor Torres both served in the New York Police Department. In the Sunshine State, she stayed active in union politics, whether for law enforcement groups like the Patrol Benevolent Association or other organizations, including the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement.
“I have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from the voters in this district and all the union organizations, Democratic clubs and elected officials that are supporting my campaign,” Torres said heading into the Democratic Primary.
The race became considerably more complicated with the last-minute entry of Grayson, one of Florida’s best-known Democrats for more than a decade. The Orlando Democrat initially qualified this year to challenge U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, but he abandoned that run, acknowledging the difficulty in quickly amassing the financial resources to challenge a Republican incumbent.
He instead largely self-financed an SD 25 campaign. But his biggest asset in this race was arguably his name recognition representing Central Florida in Congress.
He first won a term in Washington in 2008, unseating Republican U.S. Rep. Ric Keller, though he served just a term before Republican U.S. Rep. Daniel Webster ousted him in 2010. But Grayson ran again in a Democratic-leaning seat in 2012, representing a district that covered parts of Osceola and Orange counties. In 2016, he left his seat for an ultimately failed U.S. Senate run.
Rather than pursue a return trip to Washington, he put his name on the ballot in the smallest district in which he ever campaigned. He reported little in outside contributions, but spent more than $119,000, his campaign fueled entirely by a six-figure candidate loan. In the last few weeks of the campaign, a newly formed political committee also spent more than $117,000 on his behalf.
His message was simple: “Higher pay. Lower taxes. Lower insurance. Lower tolls. Because we’re all in this together,” Grayson told Florida Politics.
Throughout the race, Arrington proved to be the strongest fundraiser. Through Aug. 15, she had spent nearly $202,000, and the Friends of Arringtons committee pumped another $386,000 in spending over the course of the election cycle.
Torres, meanwhile, reported just over $65,000 in spending through the same time period. A Torres-controlled committee, Latino Rising, has spent around $115,000 as well.
As of March, the district’s nearly 114,000 registered Democrats outnumbered more than 74,000 Republicans substantially, while more than 103,000 no-party voters also remained on the rolls. But Republicans felt bolstered when Vic Torres won his last re-election bid in 2022 with less than 53% of the vote despite the state GOP devoting few resources to the race.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has said he wished the party had competed for the district then. That make it likely that attention on this fight continues into the Fall.
