Gabrielle Russon
Democrats won big in Tuesday’s Orange County Commission races Tuesday, with Nicole Wilson and Kelly Semrad defeating their better-funded Republican opponents, and Commissioner Mayra Uribe beating Sen. Linda Stewart.
In District 1, Wilson beat Austin Arthur with 52% of the vote Tuesday, a rematch from the August Primary when Wilson was ahead by only two votes, forcing a November runoff.
For District 3, a contest between two Democrats, Uribe won with 52% of the vote against Stewart.
And for the open District 5, Semrad dominated with 57% of the vote to beat Steve Leary.
The three races to reshape the board come as county officials deal with growing redevelopment, protecting the environment and spending the tourism development tax that brings in billions of dollars into the community.
The County Commission races are nonpartisan on the ballot, but politics were unavoidable.
For District 1, Wilson beat her opponent who had a war chest of nearly $370,000 compared to Wilson’s less than $80,000.
Arthur was backed by developers and the hospitality industry. Meanwhile, Wilson has angered special interest groups by supporting the environment over developers and wanting to free up tourist development taxes to be spent on community needs instead of just tourism.
In District 3, another rematch from August, Uribe dealt with bad publicity after a Florida Politics story revealed she gave hundreds of tickets to her husband’s small nonprofit since 2019. It’s unclear how he benefited from the access to some of Orlando’s biggest entertainment events, since his nonprofit hasn’t filed any recent 990 tax forms.
County Commissioners are allowed to transfer two tickets to the county Skybox at the Kia Center and Camping World Stadium to a nonprofit of their choice. But Uribe’s ticket transfers to her husband’s organization raised red flags, one ethics expert told Florida Politics. The County closed the loophole in late October.
Meanwhile, Stewart faced her own controversy in county government.
As a Senator, Stewart went behind Orange County leaders’ backs to write a bill with a county lobbyist that would have limited the county’s ability to cut funding to Visit Orlando. The bill never gained traction, but it still angered local officials. After the Orlando Sentinel broke the story, the county fired the lobbyist in February.
And to replace term-limited Commissioner Emily Bonilla in District 5, the race pitted former Winter Park Mayor Leary against Semrad. Leary had the backing of the tourism industry and developers, while Semrad was a staunch environmentalist and University of Central Florida professor. Leary outraised her with his $260,000 in campaign donations compared to her funds of just under $100,000.
