District 6’s boundaries may be slightly different this time around, but voters in west Orlando, Oak Ridge and Tangelo Park should be quite familiar with the two names vying to represent them on the Board of County Commissioners.
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Incumbent Mike Scott faces longtime community activist Lawanna Gelzer in a rematch of the 2022 contest, decided by just 656 votes.
The field narrowed from five to two in August when Scott won 49% of the vote, just shy of the 50%-plus-one threshold needed to win outright, and Gelzer had the second-highest count with about 22%.
Scott, who works for the City of Orlando managing contracts for its youth programs, said he’s proud to have broad-based support, including from both Walt Disney World and the union representing much of its workforce. He said longtime residents know him dating back to childhood.
He said he’s helped bring affordable housing developments to the district, such as the Enclave at Canopy Park, Barnett Villas and the under-construction Catchlight Crossings, and also advocated for the county to expand its rental assistance programs to also help with mortgage assistance.
“What I think folks wanted to see was someone who showed up… I respond to my folks,” he said. “If I am not responsive enough, these folks will call my parents.”
But Gelzer maintains that’s not good enough. She noted the district is home to the economic backbone of the region, including Universal Studios, SeaWorld, Camping World Stadium and the Kia Center, but the median income is far below other districts.
“I don’t see the dollars coming into this district, staying in the district,” she said.
She’s argued that she’d be more proactive than Scott in county decision-making, such as seeking information from department heads early in the budget process to ensure dollars are allocated appropriately.
In a recent example, she said commissioners should have worked with developers of Tuscana, the massive mixed-use development that commissioners reversed course and approved last month after legal threats. The proposal includes nearly 5,000 apartments, 1,291 hotel rooms and 653,400 square feet of commercial space on 227 acres near Shingle Creek, the headwaters of the Everglades.
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The Board initially unanimously rejected the plan in 2025, only to vote 4-3 in favor of it in September after learning a legal challenge could potentially wipe out its entire reserve fund in 2027.
Instead, Gelzer said she would have contacted university environmental departments for advice to improve the plan and protect wetlands.
“I wouldn’t have just told them no and waited for them to get ready to sue,” she said. “I would have said, ‘No, let’s see how we can do this together.’”
Scott said in a second term he wants to find ways to speed up county permitting processes, after fielding complaints from people who want to do business with the county but find it difficult to do so.
“Time is money,” he said. “I’ve had instances where small business owners have bought property and get lost in the process … and they end up selling their property.”
Gelzer, who has raised about $87,000 and spent about $75,000 so far, is mostly self-funding her campaign. She blasted the better-funded Scott for receiving contributions from developers, hoteliers and tourism interests.
“Orange County District 6 is not for sale,” she said. “Lawanna Gelzer is not for sale.”
Scott said instead that many of the contributors come from companies he worked for decades before – such as a Texas real estate developer who hired him as a security guard, or Universal, where he had one of his first jobs as a teen.
He’s raised about $111,000 and spent $105,000 so far.
“For me to go from a 16-year-old in a theme park to being a commissioner, representing the area and opening Epic Universe … what a success story,” he said.
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Commissioners serve four-year terms and are paid $135,262.
The election is Nov. 3. Early voting in Orange County begins Oct. 19.