Jacob Ogles
Against gloomy predictions and a voter registration disadvantage, Republican Rep. Paula Stark won in House District 47 for a second time.
With 92.9% of Osceola County precincts and all Orange County precincts in, Stark led Democratic challenger Maria Revelles with more than 51% of the vote.
Ahead of polls closing, Stark posted optimistic messaging about her Central Florida race.
“As Election Day has arrived, I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who took the time to vote early and are voting today,” she said. “Your voice is the cornerstone of our district, and your participation shapes the future of our community.”
Revelles, a union leader, had hoped to avenge a surprise loss for Democrats in the deep-blue district in 2022.
“When I watched my district flip red while I was fighting cancer, I promised myself that if I won that battle, I would work to restore honest representation to this district,” Revelles said ahead of the election. “Today, I am proud to run for HD 47, with a coalition of community support, to bring back a Florida where we can all live with dignity and hope for a better tomorrow.”
A Democratic advantage in voter registration had signaled trouble for Stark. And that was before spending scandals involving both Stark’s official expense accounts and political committee activity made headlines.
Stark in 2022 won by a narrow 878-vote margin over Anthony Nieves, an avowed Democratic socialist. But Republicans overperformed statewide in a red wave cycle where Gov. Ron DeSantis secured a 19-percentage-point landslide re-election. Democrats, meanwhile, invested little in the Osceola-Orange seat, and the Republican Party of Florida didn’t invest until after the Primary, when it made a $10,000 contribution to Stark and little after that.
This year, both parties had their eyes on the seat. Book closing reports show almost 40,000 Democrats registered in the district, compared to just over 29,000 Republicans and almost 40,000 other voters.
But Stark did enjoy an advantage in fundraising. The incumbent raised more than $71,000 in her candidate account this cycle, and as of Oct. 31 had almost $29,000 in cash on hand. By comparison, Revelles raised just over $60,000 and closed the last reporting period with less than $8,000 in the bank. The Friends of Maria Revelles committee raised almost $101,000 to support the Democrat and wrapped the period with almost $8,000 for the final days of the race.
It’s unclear, though, what was in Stark’s Friends of Paula committee account. As of Oct. 18, the account had raised almost $97,000 and had more than $5,000 cash, but it didn’t file end of month reports before Election Day. The committee notably received a letter from the Division of Elections on Oct. 14 demanding the committee address missing information in its reports. That audit letter came after a final notice on a $500 fine, just the latest financial penalty on the committee.
That’s not the first time the committee faced trouble. As of July, that committee had spent more than it drew in except for a loan from a business connected to Stark’s boyfriend, Joel Davis, the committee Chair. The committee at that point had been fined more than $11,000, and had reported an excessive amount of fines for “entertainment advocating candidate.”
Additionally, the Orlando Sentinel this Summer broke news that Stark’s Office campaign expense account had been suspended for similar failures to timely report.
Stark’s campaign and the Florida House Republican Campaign Committee have attacked Revelles’ personal finances. The Democrat pushed back on attacks.
“In response to my campaign, Stark has resorted to spreading lies and creating visuals with stereotypes that demean and hurt our Latino community,” Revelles said. “These attacks aim to distract from her fiscal mismanagement and disregard for the values of HD 47 residents. Stark’s relentless pursuit of a personal agenda has kept her from serving our community with integrity.”
Stark stressed her work for the district. In her first term, she sponsored policy bills that became law, including a vessel regulation law in 2023 and a mobile lot tenant law and a corrections contractor law in 2024.
“Thank you for the opportunity to serve you the last two years,” Stark said in a campaign video.
“It’s been an honor to be a voice for our community. Since I’ve been in office, I’ve passed four bills and co-sponsored dozens of others, most all of which came from community leads, and brought home more than $7 million in appropriations projects. I look forward to continuing the mobile home initiatives, veterans services, mental health services, as well as paying jobs, protecting home rule, advocating for disability communities and continuing efforts to address property insurance.”
Revelles said he would bring a far different vision to office than Stark, who she said contributed to divisive culture wars and harmful cuts to important efforts.
“Florida has always represented opportunity, a place where people of all backgrounds could thrive with safety, dignity, and respect. Today, those ideals are threatened by an agenda that disrupts the well-being of working families, divides communities, and slows our progress toward a fair, sustainable future for everyone,” Revelles said.
“As a workers’ leader, climate activist and community organizer, I’m fighting to restore a vision for Florida where dignity, security and opportunity are realities for all. I want a state where women have full autonomy over their bodies and health care decisions; where working families can afford to live without constant fear and economic insecurity and with access to health care; and also where schools serve as cornerstones of the community, free from political agendas and supportive of both teachers and students.”
Notably, the Florida House Democratic Campaign Committee has offered far more direct party support to Revelles than Republicans provided to Stark. The Florida House Republican Campaign Committee did run negative ads against Revelles and independently rallied support for the incumbent.
