4 Democrats vying to oversee Orange County elections
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For the first time in 28 years — or seven election cycles — Orange County Democrats won’t see Bill Cowles’ name on ballots.
After the longtime Supervisor of Elections retired earlier this year, four Democrats have qualified to run in one of Florida’s blue bastions — with the winner likely to take office, as there’s no Republican in the field and one longshot candidate without a party affiliation awaiting the winner in November.
The candidates in the Aug. 20 primary are School Board member Karen Castor Dentel, attorney Dan Helm, former Orange County Democratic party chair Wes Hodge and real estate broker Sunshine Linda-Marie Grund.
Only Democrats can vote in this contest, which means about 324,000 voters are eligible — 40% of the county’s electorate.
However, there’s a chance this race could move to the November election. Helm sued Cynthia Harris, the NPA candidate, alleging she improperly paid the filing fee to qualify for the ballot. If he wins at trial Aug. 13, Harris could be booted from the ballot, thus sending the race to a universal primary Nov. 5 in which all registered voters may cast ballots.
Glen Gilzean, who Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed to the post following Cowles’ retirement, decided not to run for the office.
The candidates agree on some things: the supervisor’s website is outdated and needs an upgrade and they’d offer the maximum number of days for early voting.
Dentel, a former schoolteacher and state representative, is the best-funded candidate with about $136,000 raised in her campaign account, records show.
Central Florida Voter Guide: August primary and nonpartisan races and candidates
She said she’d implement a code of ethics, require all contracts issued by the office go through a competitive bidding process and solicit an audit by the comptroller of its operations.
She’d also explore opening satellite offices — potentially co-located with the tax collector — in places like Ocoee, Lee Vista and east Orange County.
“Here we are in a county with growth that is exploding, and we only have one supervisor’s office in the industrial area of downtown, and it’s not exactly a convenient place for people to go to,” Dentel said.
The Maitland resident also wants to start a “Votemobile,” a vehicle wrapped with election materials and a QR code where people can check their voter registration and other information. The vehicle could be driven everywhere from senior centers to parades and community events to bring voting resources into the community.
Hodge, who lives in Lockhart, has raised about $58,000.
He said the next supervisor needs to be more forward-facing and aggressively work to distribute voting information. Also, he said the office needs to hire more outreach workers, make information available in more languages and accessible for people with disabilities.
“I’m the only candidate who is offering all of my materials in English, Spanish, Haitian Creole and subtitles or image description,” Hodge said.
The former aide to Orange County Commissioners Emily Bonilla and Mayra Uribe said the office needs to hire more outreach workers — they presently have two — and he’d like to start an appointment system for early voting similar to the one in Palm Beach County.
Helm, of Orlando, is a civil litigator who’s raised about $24,000.
He was the Democratic nominee in 2020 for supervisor of elections in Pinellas County. He said he moved to Orlando in 2016, and later briefly back to the Gulf Coast to run for the elections post, and after his defeat he returned to the City Beautiful.
Helm said he has several plans to make voting easier and more accessible, ranging from allowing people to register to vote online to covering postage costs of mail-in ballots.
“I think the supervisor of elections needs to have an understanding that they’re at the pinnacle of people exercising their voice,” he said.
Helm contends his experience sets him apart in the race — having worked as a poll worker and in voter protection and field organizing for former President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign.
Grund, of Lake Nona, said she believes the office should take a more proactive approach to turning out voters as opposed to deferring to candidates in various races to do so.
“I think an effective supervisor of election is someone you can trust and someone who is out there in the community,” she said.
All of the candidates agree that the website needs improvements as well as providing more information about candidates for office, tracking petition counts for ballot measures and resources for voters.
So far, Grund is entirely self funding her campaign, contributing $12,000 to the effort, which she said keeps her free from special interest influence.
