{"id":2015,"date":"2026-05-28T20:36:37","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T20:36:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=2015"},"modified":"2026-05-28T20:36:37","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T20:36:37","slug":"orange-elections-chief-asks-state-to-clarify-if-special-election-can-be-held-for-uribes-seat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=2015","title":{"rendered":"Orange elections chief asks state to clarify if special election can be held for Uribe\u2019s seat"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Orange County\u2019s Supervisor of Elections is asking for state clarification on how \u2013 and when \u2013 a vacant seat on the Board of County Commissioners will be filled.<\/p>\n

Read more Schools, police risk losing revenue under DeSantis property tax plan<\/a><\/p>\n

Commissioner Mayra Uribe filed her resignation this week, which is a legal requirement to run for mayor under the state\u2019s \u201cresign to run\u201d law. However, the resignation doesn\u2019t take effect until Dec. 7.<\/p>\n

A 2021 change to Florida law requires a vacancy to be filled by a special election if a resignation letter was received with 28 months or more remaining on a person\u2019s term.<\/p>\n

The crux of the confusion is that prior to the change, elections officials considered the 28-month clock to begin the date a letter was received.<\/p>\n

But in a letter to Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd, Orange County elections chief Karen Castor Dentel noted that after the change, at least one court determined that the clock begins based on the effective date of retirement.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a result, we are uncertain how to proceed,\u201d the letter reads.<\/p>\n

If Byrd or Gov. Ron DeSantis\u2019 office directs Orange County to hold an election this year for Uribe\u2019s District 3 seat, Castor Dentel\u2019s letter states that her office would promptly issue the required legal notice of a race with qualifying to begin on June 8.<\/p>\n

But for now, the office is planning on not having an election for her seat until 2028.<\/p>\n

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If that happens, upon leaving office in December, the Democrat Uribe\u2019s seat could be filled by a\u00a0 gubernatorial appointment, likely a Republican.<\/p>\n

Byrd\u2019s office didn\u2019t respond to a request for comment on the situation.<\/p>\n

Castor Dentel\u2019s letter also highlighted the urgency of the matter, as qualifying for county races is set to begin next month.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause the qualifying period begins in less than two weeks, we would appreciate your earliest consideration and will proceed as directed,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

Read more No new MICHELIN stars for Orlando restaurants this year, 2 lost them<\/a><\/p>\n

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While the county\u2019s charter outlines that vacancies would be replaced by the Board of County Commissioners, Florida law preempts the charter. For example, in 2018, Gov. Rick Scott appointed Rod Love to fill the District 2 seat after Brian Nelson resigned to run for Apopka Mayor.<\/p>\n

Coincidentally, the District 2 seat is once again vacant on the board, after Christine Moore resigned to unsuccessfully run for Apopka Mayor earlier this year. So far, DeSantis hasn\u2019t appointed someone to the seat, which is up for election in November as Moore was term-limited.<\/p>\n

The circumstances of Uribe\u2019s resignation have been debated for weeks in local Democratic circles.<\/p>\n

Orange County\u2019s Democratic Executive Committee posed the situation to Mark Herron, the state\u2019s top Democratic elections attorney, who represented Al Gore in Florida\u2019s infamous 2000 presidential recount. In a memo, Herron concluded that if Uribe\u2019s seat were to be filled by election, the effective date of her resignation must be no later than Aug. 1.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because Florida law states \u201cthe office is deemed vacant upon the effective date of resignation submitted by the official in his or her letter of resignation.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Uribe\u2019s letter, she set an effective date of Dec. 7.\u00a0While she also asked for an election to fill her seat, Castor Dentel wrote in response that she couldn\u2019t do so.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause your effective date of resignation would occur with fewer than 28 months remaining in your term, pursuant to Section 100.111, Florida Statutes, this office cannot proceed with an election absent direction from either the Governor\u2019s Office or a court of competent jurisdiction,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

In an interview with the Orlando Sentinel earlier this month, Uribe said her decision was putting the responsibilities of the office over that of party politics. She said she wanted to participate in crucial county votes related to budgeting, allocating Tourist Development Tax dollars and voting on a homeless shelter project she helped develop in her district.<\/p>\n

All of those crucial votes are expected to come up before Dec. 7, but not necessarily before Aug. 1.<\/p>\n

Read more UCF men\u2019s basketball coach Johnny Dawkins signs new contract extension<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Orange County\u2019s Supervisor of Elections is asking for state clarification on how \u2013 and when \u2013 a vacant seat on the Board of County Commissioners will be filled.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2014,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news"],"yoast_head":"\nOrange elections chief asks state to clarify if special election can be held for Uribe\u2019s seat - 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=2015\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Orange elections chief asks state to clarify if special election can be held for Uribe\u2019s seat - 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