Jacob Ogles
Rep. Kristen Arrington hopes voters promote her to the Senate on Nov. 5. But can political newcomer Jose Martinez flip a Hispanic-majority seat red instead?
Arrington and Martinez face each other in Senate District 25, with the winner set to succeed retiring Sen. Victor Torres, an Orlando Democrat. Torres first won election in a slightly differently shaped district in 2016, running up 58% of the vote at the time. But he won his last term in 2022 with less than 53% over Republican Peter Vivaldi.
That left Gov. Ron DeSantis openly wishing Republicans had made a stronger play for the Hispanic-performing seat, and Republicans have only grown a presence there since. But Democrats feel confident the Orange-Osceola seat remains blue.
In September, polling showed Arrington with a 17-percentage-point lead on Martinez. And voter registration numbers still show the 117,000 registered Democrats outnumber the more than 81,000 Republicans substantially, as do the more than 105,000 voters with no party affiliation.
But Martinez hopes voters look at more than party identification when deciding if a candidate represents the community. Almost 1 million who voted in the district in 2022 are Hispanic, according to MCI Maps. That includes Martinez, who notes he’s the only candidate in the race who even speaks Spanish.
“I think we deserve a representative who can at least speak the language,” he said.
Martinez for the last 20 years has been the co-owner of Elite Metro Corp., a Metro by T-Mobile dealer headquartered in St. Cloud. He won a Republican Primary in August, taking more than 59% of the GOP vote over Osceola County School Board member Jon Arguello.
He filed for office over concerns about the excessive power of homeowners associations, he said. And while those groups fine members for frivolous reasons, he said Central Florida continues to suffer from an affordable housing crisis.
“I don’t want to become another Miami,” he said. “So what are we doing with affordable housing and can we apply it here to help middle class people with rent?”
He praised efforts like the HEROES Act signed by DeSantis, which assists first responders with buying homes, but said the state needs to do a better job of outreach.
Arrington had a competitive Democratic Primary in August herself, where she defeated former U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson and community leader Carmen Torres, the wife of the outgoing Senator. Despite facing serious competition, she won 51% of the vote.
Martinez received just a little more than 10,000 votes to win the Republican nomination, while more than 11,000 voted for Arrington.
The Democratic lawmaker also lists affordable housing as a top issue, and said she has a record to prove she can address the matter. During her time in the House, the Kissimmee Democrat secured funding for hotel-to-housing conversions in the region, and she also supported bipartisan measures like the Live Local Act aimed at increasing affordable housing supply.
“During my time in the Florida House, I have passed bipartisan legislation to assist our students, veterans, first responders, HOA residents, and downtown Kissimmee small businesses,” Arrington posted on Facebook.
“Additionally, I have brought home funding for affordable housing (three motel/hotel conversions), firefighter protection, flood mitigation, and housing for houseless veterans and those battling addiction.”
She’s married to Osceola County Commissioner Brandon Arrington, and is daughter-in-law to Supervisor of Elections Mary Anne Arrington. The fact all three appear on the ballot has prompted general anti-Arrington signs to crop up in the district.
But the prominent name, House incumbency and her own work as a political consultant before her election give her a number of advantages at the polls. Not least of those, she has a significant advantage in resources to Martinez.
She raised more than $279,000 over the course of the race, and still has almost $30,000 left as of Oct. 28. Martinez raised just over $34,000, but has largely self-funded his race courtesy of a $150,000 candidate loan. He closed the last period with more than $85,000 cash, but must decide whether to spend it.
Meanwhile, a Friends of Arringtons political committee had another more than $27,000 available for Arrington to use. A Positive Solutions PC formed by Martinez hasn’t raised any money.
