Candidates seeking council seats in Orange County cities qualify this month
Candidates in a half-dozen suburban Orange County cities must declare their candidacies for office this month, with some ballots already set and others still accepting new entrants as late as noon on Jan. 27.
Open seats are up for grabs in Edgewood, Maitland, Ocoee, Windermere, Winter Garden and Winter Park for Election Day, March 14.
When qualifying ended last week in Winter Garden and Windermere, the elections were canceled as none of the open seats had more than one candidate.
Nobody in Winter Garden filed to challenge either Mayor John Rees or District 1 Commissioner Lisa Bennett, both incumbents.
Rees, 73, who ended the 16-year tenure of former Mayor Jack Quesinberry in 2008, will serve his fifth consecutive term, and the first since voters agreed to extend the length of the term from three to four years. Bennett will serve her third term on the commission.
Three candidates want to serve on Town Council in Windermere. Two are incumbents Mandy David and retired Air Force Col. Tony Davit. Former Orange County SWAT commander Tom Stroup, once a candidate for sheriff, wants the seat of Bill Martini, a two-term council member, who chose not to seek reelection.
Elections were also called off in Belle Isle when qualifying concluded in November. Incumbents Ed Gold and Jim Partin were reelected without opposition.
Qualifying begins Jan. 20 in Ocoee, where the mayor’s race so far is a three-candidate contest. Two-term city Commissioner George Oliver, the first Black person elected to the board, has announced he will challenge the reelection bid of Mayor Rusty Johnson, with whom Oliver has often clashed.
Johnson has served 29 years on the city commission and eight as mayor.
Businessman Chris Adkins, an Ocoee resident since 2001, also submitted paperwork to run for mayor.
Voters also will choose commissioners in District 1, a seat held by retired Marine Corps veteran Larry Brinson Sr., the second Black person elected to the commission, and District 3, the seat held by former Fire Chief Richard Firstner. Shaunte Munns, a Democrat who challenged U.S. Rep. Daniel Webster for the 11th Congressional seat, has filed paperwork to run for Firstner’s seat. Qualifying ends at noon Friday, Jan. 27.
Qualifying in Winter Park, Maitland and Edgewood is open from Jan. 23 until noon on Jan. 27.
In Winter Park, Seats 1 and 2 are up, and incumbents Marty Sullivan and Sheila DeCiccio have filed for reelection and opened campaign accounts. So far, both candidates have no opposition, and each has served one term on the commission.
Maitland City Council seats 2 and 4, currently held by Lindsay Hall Harrison and Vance Guthrie respectively, are also on the ballot.
shudak@orlandosentinel.com, rygillespie@orlandosentinel.com
A previous version of this article misidentified Belle Isle council member Ed Gold.
