National politics has spilled into a race for a seat on the Orange County commission, as mailers charge that one candidate supports socialism and wants open borders, while another ad shows the opposing candidate wearing a pro-Trump “Make America Great Again” hat.
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The two candidates in the newly created District 7 seat, Patricia Rumph and Vicki Vargo, are both registered Democrats. But Vargo was a Republican for a quarter-century before switching her party affiliation and entering the race.
Party labels often play a major role in Board of County Commissioners elections despite the offices being officially non-partisan. In a heavily Democratic district such as District 7, representing College Park, Eatonville, Maitland, Orlo Vista, Pine Hills and Rosemont, that’s led to a deluge of advertisements with national talking points.
Vargo appears in the mailer from the Florida Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee which shows a clearly doctored image of her with a red MAGA hat. It touts her years as a Republican, including “in 2016, 2020 and 2024 — all three times Trump was on the ballot.”
Vargo had been registered as a Republican since 1990, according to Election Supervisor records, and was a member of the GOP during her six years on Orlando’s council beginning in 2000. She became a Democrat 10 months before launching her commission bid.
In an interview, Vargo said she’s never owned a MAGA hat. While she wouldn’t say if she voted for President Trump, she said she “had concerns the first time he ran.”
Rumph didn’t return a call or text message seeking comment.
“I’m all about getting things done, this is a nonpartisan race,” Vargo said. “Political party shouldn’t matter. I’m interested in parks and sidewalks.”
But another ad, paid for by Vargo, blasts Rumph for allegedly supporting socialism, citing a $50 contribution to Democratic U.S. Senate Candidate Angie Nixon.
It mimics a Cheerios box, but substitutes “s-O-cialism” in place of the famous cereal brand. It contends Rumph is “Cuckoo for socialist ideas!” and “donated to a socialist’s campaign.”
Among the policies it contends Rumph supports are “defunding all law enforcement,” “open borders and full amnesty for all illegal immigrants, including violent criminals,” and “crippling our economy with dangerous new taxes we just can’t afford.”
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The ad’s citations for such sweeping claims point to Rumph’s history as a small-dollar Democratic donor. Federal records show she’s given roughly $1,000 across more than 30 contributions to various Democratic candidates since 2019, including the $50 to Nixon in June and $25 a few days later to U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Orlando.
Nixon, who joined the Democratic Socialists of America earlier this year, defeated her opponent Alexander Vindman in the August Democratic primary with 56% of the vote — taking 68% of the vote in Orange County.
Rumph, a retired probation officer, lists public safety as her first priority on her campaign website.
In the interview, Vargo acknowledged she doesn’t know if Rumph supports the listed ideas. But she said the donation to Nixon shows she must be sympathetic to them.
“The whole purpose of the mailers was to point out that she gave a donation to someone with those core values, that she’s at least sympathetic to those views,” she said. “There’s no evidence whatsoever I was MAGA. I at least had evidence to support my claim … the other side had no evidence at all.”
Vargo’s campaign had already been criticized for sending out mailers seemingly tailored to different voters, including one to Republicans stating she’s “ready to lead with conservative values” and another to Democrats with a handwritten “I’m a Democrat. Please vote for me.”
The mailers prompted the Orange County Democrats to back Rumph outright despite both being members of the party, a rare move by an organization that usually has refrained from taking a side if both candidates in a non-partisan race were Democrats.
The party lists both Commissioner Mike Scott and his challenger Lawanna Gelzer on their voter guide, for example, as well as Orange School Board candidates Diana Moore and Susanne Peña, as all are Democrats.
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The election is Nov. 3. Early voting in Orange County begins Monday.