Unlike other state districts that tend to stick to party lines, Florida House District 35 is not so set in its ways.
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In January 2024, voters in the district that includes parts of eastern Orange and Osceola counties elected Democrat Tom Keen over Republican Erika Booth in a special election — only for Booth to defeat Keen in the general election ten months later.
Now, Eric Gray, a Democrat, is hoping to turn the district blue again in his bid to unseat Booth in November.
Gray, 50, has never sought public office before, but his name is likely familiar to those tuned into local politics. As head of the Christian Service Center since 2020, which provides vital resources to the homeless, Gray has been an outspoken proponent of bringing more shelters to Central Florida, where the homeless population has outpaced the area’s shelter capacity.
In 2023, he served on the Orange County Tourist Development Tax Advisory Taskforce and was a leading voice to expand the use of hotel taxes to cover things that would benefit residents, like better roads and public transportation.
Booth, 48, was an Osceola County School District teacher for two decades and a two-time Teacher of the Year award winner. In 2022, she left the classroom and made a successful bid for the Osceola County School Board.
She resigned from the board in 2023 to pursue the House seat, telling Florida Politics at the time that being on the board showed her that the “issues facing educators, parents and our students cannot simply be solved locally.”
Similarly, Gray was inspired to seek the House seat after witnessing the limitations placed upon local politicians.
After a 2024 state law took effect banning camping in public spaces, Gray said he began seeing homeless people get arrested for sitting on the sidewalk after the police instructed them to move along.
“Not because they didn’t want to move,” Gray said. “It’s because they physically were not able to get up. They were in such bad condition.”
Gray had conversations with officials from the Orlando Police Department and local politicians who, he said, told him they weren’t happy about enforcing the new law but had no choice.
That, Gray said, motivated him to switch from initially seeking a county commission seat to pursuing a spot in the Legislature.
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Booth’s campaign has significantly more money than Gray’s campaign, raising $258,000 to Gray’s $83,000. Booth’s financial advantage largely comes from corporate donors and other groups, while Gray has relied almost exclusively on donations from private individuals.
On his campaign website, some of Gray’s top issues are affordable housing, making sure that “all of our young people have a clear path to economic success,” diversifying the allowable uses of tourism tax dollars and supporting public schools.
Booth’s campaign website does not include a political platform, and she did not respond to multiple interview requests from the Orlando Sentinel. But her voting record indicates that, if elected for a second term, she will be loyal to her side of the aisle. Booth has cast more than 1,000 votes while in the house, voting with her party 99% of the time.
Both candidates filled out a questionnaire provided by a Central Florida news collaborative that includes the Orlando Sentinel. In that questionnaire, Gray said he would vote “no” on the constitutional amendment to slash property taxes, as he feels it will mean billions of dollars in cuts to police, firefighters and local infrastructure.
Booth, on the other hand, wrote that she is voting “yes” because lower property taxes will bring much-need relief to homeowners dealing with rising insurance, utility and other housing costs. She did not feel that the bill will negatively impact police and firefighter budgets.
Booth is against Gray’s push to expand the uses for tourism tax dollars.
“Tourism is Central Florida’s economy, and it isn’t just theme parks,” she wrote. “It’s the hotels, the restaurants, the people who clean the rooms and cook the food.”
Both candidates believe the region has a housing affordability problem that can be helped by passing reforms to the property insurance market that will lead to lower premiums for homeowners.
Gray feels that it is also important to build more affordable starter homes and apartments and less luxury development, while also supporting social service programs to help keep people from losing their homes when they fall behind on their bills.
Both candidates are native Floridians, Christians and alumni of the University of Florida.
Gray, who is divorced, has four children. Booth has three children with her husband Ricky Booth, an Osceola County commissioner.
“Three of her children are the exact same age as three of my children. And our first names are pretty much the same, and she looks like she could be one of my sisters,” Gray said of Booth. “I really like her. I think she’s really nice. I just disagree with her voting, and I disagree with it significantly.”
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