Kelly Semrad Says She is Undecided on Redistricting Maps

Winter Park is making a hard push to move out of Semrad’s district as Orange County redraws the boundaries for how the County Commission is elected

Sept. 16, 2025

By Gabrielle Russon

Where Winter Park will land on a new map of Orange County Commission districts is still unclear as county leaders are divided on which map to pick with Kelly Martinez Semrad, who represents the city on the board, saying she is now undecided.

The commission met Tuesday in a workshop but isn’t scheduled to take a final vote until Oct. 14 on the new boundaries that are being redrawn to grow the board from six to eight commissioners elected by district. The mayor also has a vote on the board and is elected by the entire county.

Winter Park city officials continue to lobby in force for the county to put the city in the newly drawn District 7 along with its neighbors Maitland, Eatonville and Pine Hills, an unincorporated neighborhood in Orange County. That option is Map-1A.

The other option, Map-7B, would keep Winter Park in the current District 5 along with rural eastern Orange County represented now by Semrad.

A redistricting advisory committee that spent months getting public feedback and looking at different options presented Map-1A and Map-7B as the final two proposals to the county board Tuesday. But the advisory committee wouldn’t go as far as picking which one it liked best, leaving that decision up to the county commissioners.

Three commissioners said they supported Map-1A while two others endorsed Map-7B. Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said he supported whatever the majority wanted.

That left Semrad — a potentially key vote and the commissioner whose district is caught up in most of the debate.

At a redistricting advisory committee meeting earlier this summer, Semrad said she initially supported a map similar to 7B to leave Winter Park in her district with the rural east and balance out the unincorporated areas with the municipalities. But Tuesday, Semrad backtracked and said she wasn’t ready to make a decision yet as she got a flurry of last-minute public feedback.

On the day of the county workshop, Semrad said she received 100 emails and hadn’t had time to review them all yet.

“I have the people in the east who really want to stay with Winter Park because they look at it as more suburban and that they have nothing in common with downtown and then I have people from Winter Park not seeing compatibility with the rural area,” Semrad said.

“Does that sound like you can go with either map?” Demings asked her.

“That is the case,” Semrad said.

A delegation from Winter Park has attended the committee meetings and also spoke at Tuesday’s workshop. 

Stating her case again, Winter Park Mayor Sheila DeCiccio argued her city should be districted with its Eatonville and Maitland neighbors.

They often work together, she said, pointing to Winter Park and Maitland sharing an elementary school boundary or Winter Park handling Maitland’s emergency calls. Winter Park is also working with Eatonville on a grant for new sidewalks and crosswalks.

“We have no contiguous borders with east Orange County. The gerrymandering and Map-7B to include Winter Park would make Texas proud,” she said. “There is absolutely no compatibility, collaboration, contingent border, or community between us.”

From the public, the county heard a mix of the public’s concerns as some wanted to keep the small cities together in Map-1A while others said Map 7-B made more sense.

Some people feared Pine Hills might get overpowered by Winter Park, so they preferred Map 7-B to keep Winter Park separate from the rest of the urban areas.

One Winter Park resident supported Map-7B for “a pretty selfish reason.”

“I love my county commissioner. I love Kelly Semrad,” the resident said. “During the last election cycle, we had so many people knock doors in Winter Park to understand who Kelly is and why she was a candidate for county commissioner.”

And Ella Wood, a Winter Park resident who is the political director for Unite Here Local 737 representing hospitality workers, argued Map-7B was closest to preserving the historic county boundary lines.

“It helps to maintain people’s connection, people’s engagement, and maintaining their community interests,” Wood said.

Meanwhile, Winter Park already has a city government to advocate for itself. “That’s not what we need the county commissioner to do,” Wood said.

Even though the city of Winter Park runs its own police department and handles its own infrastructure needs, city leaders still believe it’s important to get a voice on the county commission.

DeCiccio pointed to potential rail expansion, a new state law taking away local control for growth which some communities are fighting against as well as a contract with Visit Orlando — an agency that DeCiccio is not a fan of — as some of the countywide issues that Winter Park wants to advocate on at the county level. In addition, DeCiccio also brought up the Community Redevelopment Agency, or CRA, which the county allowed Winter Park to expand last year to control more tax dollars that would otherwise go to the county for projects like post-Hurricane Ian flood prevention.

“There will finally be an opportunity for someone from Winter Park, Maitland, Eatonville, College Park, or Pine Hills if Map-1A is adopted … to have a seat at the table,” she said, joined by Commissioner Craig Russell and City Manager Randy Knight to appeal to county commissioners Tuesday.

County staff and commissioners answered back at people’s concerns. 

“I hear folks saying… ‘we don’t have anything in common with this group or that group of people,’” said District 6 Commissioner Mike Scott, who reminded residents they are all part of Orange County.

And would Winter Park, with its considerable wealth and tax base, dominate whatever district it ultimately lands in? 

Demings looked around his board — commissioners of different races and some who had upset victories to defeat better-funded opponents or represented wealthier areas of the county.

Semrad, for example, was a political newcomer who won the seat last year against former Winter Park Mayor Steve Leary who raised significantly more money than her. 

“If you’re the right candidate at the right time,” Demings said. “You can get elected.”

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