{"id":1041,"date":"2026-05-18T20:05:57","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T20:05:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=1041"},"modified":"2026-05-18T20:05:57","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T20:05:57","slug":"orange-democrats-fear-states-election-rules-could-put-republican-in-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=1041","title":{"rendered":"Orange Democrats fear state\u2019s election rules could put Republican in office"},"content":{"rendered":"
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An obscure change in Florida\u2019s resign-to-run law has created a peculiar choice for a pair of Democratic county officials who want to be Orange County\u2019s next mayor \u2014 and their decisions on when to leave office could mean the state\u2019s Republican governor chooses their successors.<\/p>\n

Read more Orlando\u2019s Dylan Wade proud of success at TE in first year with UCF<\/a><\/p>\n

Under a 2021 law, Commissioner Mayra Uribe and Clerk of Courts Tiffany Moore Russell must file resignation letters by May 28 and leave office with more than 28 months on their current terms, in order to guarantee their replacements are chosen by voters.<\/p>\n

Uribe, elected in 2024 to a four-year term, said Monday she will not do that, having decided to serve until December, well past the deadline for a special\u00a0 election to fill her seat. That means Gov. Ron DeSantis could appoint someone to represent her district for the remainder of her term, a possibility that has some Democrats and labor unions worried and upset.<\/p>\n

Moore Russell, also elected in 2024, said she\u2019ll meet the new rules, meaning voters can pick her successor.<\/p>\n

Uribe said she struggled with the decision \u2014 created by a 2021 change in Florida law, and unknown to the candidates until recently \u2014 but ultimately couldn\u2019t bring herself to leave office with critical decisions coming this summer on budgeting, allocating Tourist Development Taxes, and a homeless shelter project she helped craft over more than three years. She\u2019d need to leave office by Aug. 1 to trigger an election but that could be before those key decisions were made.<\/p>\n

She acknowledged pressure from her party but noted the commission is a non-partisan race and said she\u2019s doing what is best for her constituents.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a Democrat, but what they want me to do is very disheartening to me,\u201d Uribe said. \u201cIt\u2019s a major policy time for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

She contended the governor could choose to leave the seat open, or call a special election, rather than appoint a replacement.<\/p>\n

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But Democrats fear Uribe\u2019s district, which favors their party, would end up being represented by a Republican tapped by DeSantis.<\/p>\n

In recent weeks, the Orange County Democratic Executive Committee sought legal analysis from Mark Herron, Florida Democrats\u2019 top election attorney, on how Uribe and Moore Russell should proceed. Party leaders had never before faced the predicament that their candidates, resigning from one office to run for another, could effectively turn over a seat to the GOP.<\/p>\n

Herron\u2019s findings were that \u2014 under the latest changes to the resign-to-run law \u2014 both candidates would need to leave office with at least 28 months left to avoid a DeSantis appointment.<\/p>\n

That 28-month time frame would allow the vacated seat to be filled at the next regularly scheduled election. If the resignation occurs later, there is not enough time for candidates to qualify and run, and so the governor is allowed to fill the vacancy.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe central concerns of the OCDEC is to ensure that their resignations trigger a special election, rather than a gubernatorial appointment by Governor DeSantis,\u201d the analysis reads.<\/p>\n

Last week, the AFL-CIO labor union, representing about 70,000 Central Florida workers, passed a resolution vowing not to support any candidate who doesn\u2019t resign their office in time for a new election.<\/p>\n

The union unanimously approved the resolution on Wednesday, President Eric Clinton said, and forwarded it to both Uribe and Moore Russell\u2019s campaigns.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI think it\u2019s a mistake to put that power in his hands, for any seat,\u201d Clinton said, of DeSantis.\u00a0 \u201cI think we\u2019re an important voice \u2026 we think that whoever is going to be the next mayor of Orange County needs our support.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moore Russell\u00a0said she wasn\u2019t aware of the change in law when she entered the race and initially thought she\u2019d serve until November.<\/p>\n

Upon learning of it, she said she had to make some tweaks to her household finances with her husband but agreed to leave office earlier.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a personal decision. It\u2019s not about whether to resign, but it\u2019s about when the effective date is,\u201d she said. \u201cI could choose to say December, but that means the governor would get to appoint.\u201d<\/p>\n

Uribe said she felt it was important to serve the next few months as the county embarks on several critical decisions. Mayor Jerry Demings has said he intends to empanel another Tourist Development Tax task force in the coming months, which could determine how a largesse of bed tax money is doled out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been through hell and back fighting that industry, and I want to be there for that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

A proposed homeless shelter in her district is also expected to come to the board for a vote this summer, and she said she wants to make sure she was around to get it over the finish line, she said.<\/p>\n

The board currently has a vacancy in District 2 after Christine Moore resigned to run for Apopka Mayor, a race she ultimately lost. The District 2 race is on the ballot this year and, in the meantime, DeSantis could appoint a temporary replacement. So far, he hasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Uribe\u2019s decision means an election for her District 3 election will be held in 2028, when her term ends. Had her resignation triggered a special election, it likely would have been held this year. So far, seven candidates have filed to fill her seat, which generally spans from East Colonial Drive in the north, south to Orlando International Airport, bracketed by Orange Blossom Trail and Goldenrod Road.<\/p>\n

Beyond Uribe and Moore-Russell, five other candidates have filed for mayor so far. Former Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy is in the race, along with Brandy Griffin, Safraaz Alli, Randy Fust Jr. and Chris Messina.<\/p>\n

Demings, a Democrat running for governor, cannot run again for the mayor\u2019s post due to term limits.<\/p>\n

The Clerk of Courts race \u2014 with a slate of high-profile candidates \u2014 will be held later this year due to Moore Russell\u2019s decision. That race so far features County Commissioner Maribel Gomez Cordero, former Property Appraiser Rick Singh, former county Commissioner Emily Bonilla and Roberta Johnson, the general counsel for the clerk\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

Read more Dave Hyde: A petty spat between Messi, fans spoils Inter Miami\u2019s win<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A 2021 change to Florida election law has Orange County Democrats fretting Gov. Ron DeSantis could appoint a Republican to fill a seat now held by a Democrat on the Orange County Commission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1040,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nOrange Democrats fear state\u2019s election rules could put Republican in office - Orlando Relocation Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=1041\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Orange Democrats fear state\u2019s election rules could put Republican in office - Orlando Relocation Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A 2021 change to Florida election law has Orange County Democrats fretting Gov. 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