What Does Winter Park Stand to Lose if Property Tax Cuts Pass?
Voters are expected to decide a ballot amendment in November initiated by Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Legislature that could dramatically alter how local governments operate
June 5, 2026
By Beth Kassab
What does Winter Park stand to lose if voters approve the plan by Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Legislature to dramatically reduce property taxes?
A picture of the potential fallout is becoming more clear just days after the Florida House and Senate voted to send the measure to the November ballot. Here’s what we know so far:
How much money will Winter Park lose?
Let’s break down the numbers.
In 2025, Winter Park collected about $48.5 million in taxes, according to Orange County Tax Collector Scott Randolph. The bulk of that, or about $41.1 million, is what is targeted by the state ballot amendment. Those are the dollars collected on real property — houses and businesses — based on that property’s assessed value.
Tax money that comes in from real property is divided into two categories: Homestead (the houses people live in and claim as their primary residence) and non-homestead (commercial properties, businesses, second homes or rental properties or other land).
The change ordered by the Legislature garnering the most attention is a reduction in what cities and counties will collect on homesteaded property. (Note: The Legislature revised DeSantis’ proposal, which would have also reduced taxes that support schools. So the new rules would not apply to school taxes.)
Winter Park City Hall
Winter Park collected $19.8 million in 2025 from homesteaded properties. If voters approve the proposed increase to the homestead exemption from $50,000 today to $250,000 in 2028 then those collections would drop to about $14.2 million, according to Randolph’s projections. The reduction would first be felt, to a lesser extent, by cities and counties in 2027 when the homestead exemption would jump to to $150,000 before increasing to the full $250,000 the following year.
So that’s a loss of $5.6 million based on today’s numbers or a 28% reduction in collections on homesteaded properties. The overall hit to the city’s tax roll appears closer to 12% because stormwater fees ($6.3 million), tangible property taxes ($1 million on equipment and furnishings in businesses or rental properties) and non-homesteaded property taxes ($21.2 million) aren’t affected by the change to homestead exemptions.
This year the city spent $5 million more just to cover basic cost-of-living and 3% merit raises for city staff, including more competitive wages for police and additional emergency call center staff as the city took on dispatch duties for Maitland.
The entire capital improvement budget for the Community Development Agency, which is funded entirely through property taxes, totaled $5.7 million. That included $3.2 million to fix drainage and infrastructure problems on West Fairbanks Avenue, Canton Avenue and the MLK Park basin. Another $2.5 million went to the Park Avenue Refresh project, which includes new street lighting, sidewalks, landscaping, underground infrastructure and other work.
The rebuilding of Fire Station 62 on Lakemont Avenue is estimated at $5.8 million, a project the city put off again this year because it didn’t have the funds.
Mayor Sheila DeCiccio predicted noticeable cuts will be made if the new proposal goes into effect.
“This will be devastating,” DeCiccio said after the Legislature’s vote. “We will be assessing what services the city may have to cut.”
The entire city budget is $233 million this year. That includes the two utilities that fund themselves with a combined nearly $100 million in what customers pay for water and electric service.
Beyond that, the single biggest source of revenue for the city is property taxes.
Those taxes are the biggest contributor to the city’s almost $90 million general fund, which is responsible for all of the front-line services like police and fire rescue (the two biggest expenses), parks and recreation and public works.
“Property taxes are continuing to row the boat for the city’s fiscal picture, rising 7.6% and accounting for 44% of General Fund revenue,” reads the budget document from last year. “This stabilizing force is what keeps most city services humming. Its rate of growth is sufficient to support the existing level of city services, but it is limited in what it can provide in excess of just staying on course.”
So is that all?
No. There’s more. The ballot amendment would also hamstring cities and counties by limiting future growth in the amount of taxes collected on non-homesteaded properties.
The cap on annual assessment increases for those properties — anything from a Publix grocery store to an Amazon warehouse to a vacation home — would drop from 10% to 5%.
That represents future savings for billion-dollar corporations and less future revenue for local governments to use for police, fire rescue, roads and everything else property taxes pay for.
Growth in property values is how a city like Winter Park, which has enjoyed a brisk real estate market for years, has managed to increase its budget without raising the tax rate for 18 years.
A little more than half of the city’s total ad valorem collections or about $21.2 million come from non-homesteaded properties owned by everyone from small business owners to deep-pocketed corporations who will save money as a result of the new cap.
The exact amount of future unrealized growth is hard to quantify, city officials say.
But this chart from the budget shows the importance of the increase in assessed values year to year:
But even before the new ballot amendment was in play, city officials were beginning to warn of a softening in that growth and the need for belt-tightening.
“The General Fund is seeing continued increases in property tax revenue due to increasing valuations in existing real estate which has traditionally been the primary support of the majority of the growth in revenues over time,” the budget reads. “However, this revenue source is continuing its slowing trend and could indicate tighter years ahead.”
If approved, the new cap will exacerbate that picture.
What else does the ballot amendment do?
In addition to reducing revenue cities and counties have to work with, the measure would also restrict how that money is spent.
Property taxes would only be able to pay for items that fall in one of the following buckets, according to a Senate press release:
Public safety, including law enforcement, fire service, and emergency medical service
Education and public schools (additional funds beyond operational expenses covered by school board taxes)
Road and bridge construction and maintenance, stormwater control, and other infrastructure projects
Natural resource projects, including flood control measures
Retirement benefits of local government employees
Bond obligations
Operations and administration of county officers and commissioners and municipalities, and approved expenditures
Assistant City Manager Michelle del Valle, who will be in the top role next year when the changes begin to take effect after City Manager Randy Knight retires, said city staff is already starting to assess what may or may not fit into those categories. Some items in question, she said, are considered core services that residents have come to expect.
“The biggest one that we’re going to have to start working on is Parks and Recreation,” she said. “But also the library … all of our cultural partnerships.”
The Winter Park Library & Events Center.
This year the Parks budget is nearly $15 million. The city spent about $2.4 million on its library this year. And more than $500,000 went to cultural and nonprofit organizations through the general fund and the CRA such as Mead Botanical Gardens, Winter Park Historical Association, Winter Park Day Nursery, United Arts, Blue Bamboo, Polasek Museum, Enzian Theater, Heritage Center, Welbourne Day Nursery and Winter Park Playhouse.
DeCiccio said the attempt to cut local budgets is an extension of a longstanding effort by Tallahassee to chip away at the power of local governments.
“Where are people supposed to go?” DeCiccio asked. “Are they supposed to go to the state to complain about potholes in the roads? It’s very, very frustrating.”
The proposed ballot amendment, she said, strips voters of a layer of autonomy and accountability to closest to where they live.
It’s more often the city and county commissioners vs. state officials who run into residents at the grocery store or in the school pick-up line and hear their frustrations about uneven sidewalks or broken streetlights, a desire for more shade trees or a plea to help the arts.
“What about libraries? What about playgrounds? They are taking away our ability to fund these items,” DeCiccio said. “We have the No. 1 children’s library in the state that’s now open seven days a week. How are we going to keep paying for that?”
What can cities do in response?
Even before the proposal to cut property taxes, cities like Winter Park began raising prices on everything from after-school programs run by the parks department to stormwater fees and electric rates to compensate for rising costs in recent years.
For example, at the most recent City Commission meeting, commissioners approved a contract extension for Waste Pro, which provides garbage collection. The city doesn’t make money off the contract — it’s a pass through — but residents’ monthly rates have shot up from $14.99 in 2022 to $22.22 in 2025.
And residents could pay more in other ways.
Cities and counties could choose to increase the millage rate on properties — something Winter Park has avoided for 18 years — to blunt the effect of the proposed changes.
“If county and municipal governments raise millage rates to recoup the lost revenue, that would result in higher property taxes on the portion of the value of homestead properties that remains taxable, as well as on the many properties that do not qualify for the substantially higher exemption, including the properties of new Florida residents and second homeowners, commercial properties (including apartment complexes), and industrial and agricultural properties,” reads an analysis from the conservative-leaning Tax Foundation. “This would make Florida’s property tax system far less neutral and disincentivize the purchase of certain classes of property.”
Or, the foundation argues, policymakers could choose to increase the sales tax to help make up for lost property taxes.
“Since Florida’s tax structure includes no individual income tax, sales taxes and property taxes are the primary sources of state and local tax revenue,” the group said. “Replacing the lost property tax revenue with sales tax revenue would require substantially higher local and/or state sales tax rates, a sweeping expansion of the sales tax base (likely to more than just final personal consumption), or a combination of these approaches.”
Winter Park doesn’t set the sales tax or the local gas tax. That’s done by a combination of state and county officials. But it does share in sales and gas tax revenue, though that revenue is far less than property tax revenue for the city.
Winter Park’s 2026 budget included $5.6 million from sales tax and just under $1 million from the local option gas tax, a fraction of the more than $41 million it received in property taxes.
What happens next?
As with any ballot amendment, there is likely to be litigation and fights over the ballot language.
But once it makes the November ballot, at least 60% of voters must approve it in order for it to pass. That’s a heavy lift in Florida.
In 2024, there were six constitutional amendments on the Florida ballot and all but two failed to capture the required 60% approval. That was the year an amendment to legalize recreational marijuana and to limit government interference with abortion received 56% and 57% of the vote, respectively, but fell short of the 60% threshold.
But an amendment related to property tax exemptions passed with 66% of the vote. It provided for an annual inflation adjustment for the value of the homestead property tax exemption that applies to non-school taxes.
Two years earlier, though, a 2022 amendment to increase the homestead exemption for public service workers including teachers, law enforcement officers and others failed with 59% of the vote.
What about Winter Park’s next budget?
City officials say they still plan to present a proposed budget to the City Commission in July on the typical schedule.
The next budget is based on the 2026 tax roll and would not be impacted by the proposed changes, which aren’t set to take effect until next year if they win voter approval.
But officials say they are cognizant of what potentially lies ahead and are taking that into account.
The City Commission usually begins to hear public input on the budget in August and must adopt it by the end of September before the start of the next fiscal year in October.
Elizabeth Ingram and Craig Russell Sworn In as New Commissioners
Both ran unopposed. The commission paid tribute to Marty Sullivan, who is leaving Seat 1.
March 26, 2026
By Beth Kassab
New City Commissioner Elizabeth Ingram was sworn in Wednesday, while Commissioner Craig Russell took the oath of office for his second term. Both ran unopposed.
Ingram, who raised about $25,000 for her campaign, said she was glad to have her first meeting under her belt and thanked city staff for meeting with her in recent months as she prepared for the role.
“I’ve learned so much this past year getting ready for this, and I’m excited to be here,” Ingram said near the end of Wednesday’s meeting.
Ingram’s husband, Justin, held her mother’s Bible as she was sworn in during the public meeting, while their three young children stood beside them.
She then hugged outgoing Seat 1 Commissioner Marty Sullivan and took her seat on the dais.
Outgoing Commissioner Marty Sullivan wishes new Commissioner Elizabeth Ingram well as she took Seat 1 on Wednesday.
Sullivan, who opted not to run for a third term, said he is considering resuming some of his work in environmental advocacy.
“Many decisions were easy when it came to police, fire, roads, water and electricity,” Sullivan said at his final meeting earlier this month. “But some were difficult. Urban density—how do we deal with that? Taxation—we deal with that question every year. Gas leaf blowers—it didn’t come out the way I wanted, but we dealt with it. New development appropriate for our urban village? But for the most part, I believe my values have aligned with yours—our citizens—and with my fellow commissioners.”
Mayor Sheila DeCiccio said she felt as though a piece of her was leaving, noting that Sullivan has been present for her entire tenure since they were both first elected in 2020.
“Commissioner Marty Sullivan has given six years of dedicated service to our city, including this past year as vice mayor,” DeCiccio said. “Throughout that time, he has brought thoughtful leadership, steady judgment and a genuine commitment to the well-being of our community. While serving in public office is incredibly rewarding, it also requires real sacrifice.”
Elizabeth Ingram takes the oath of office with her family by her side.
Russell, a teacher and coach at Winter Park High School, took the oath of office for his second term with his wife, Kate Demory, holding a Bible at his side.
Russell did not raise any funds this election—a stark contrast to his 2024 campaign, when he raised about $100,000 and also received tens of thousands of dollars from Winter PAC, the political action committee affiliated with the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce.
He defeated two opponents in that race and made history as the first Black commissioner elected in Winter Park in more than 100 years.
This time, he contributed $250 of his own money to cover his candidate filing fee and donated a leftover $82 to Men of Integrity Mentoring Program Inc., according to campaign finance reports.
“This go-around, there was no reason for any money,” Russell said, noting he did not draw an opponent.
Winter PAC raised less than $2,000 this cycle, according to campaign reports, and did not provide any funds to candidates.
Craig Russell takes the oath of office on Wednesday for his second term with his wife by his side.
Russell, who, like Ingram, was a political newcomer and first-time candidate in 2024, said he has worked to broaden his base of support over the past two years.
“I campaigned on ‘I’m nobody’s puppet,’” he said, noting that a number of people who did not support him the first time have since reached out to congratulate him on his second term.
“Those were very meaningful and thoughtful conversations I’ve had,” he said.
He said he has also heard from previous major Winter PAC and campaign donors, including Frank Hamner, longtime attorney for the Holler family, which has significant land holdings in Winter Park.
Hamner was present at Russell’s first meeting in 2024 but was not in the audience this week.
“He sent me a message, and he said congratulations,” Russell said. “And I also got congratulations that I definitely didn’t get the first time.”
Among his top priorities, Russell said, is continuing to “lean into public safety” by promoting awareness around electric bikes and scooters, as well as educating voters on the potential downsides of property tax cuts being pushed by the DeSantis administration.
If such cuts come to fruition in a special legislative session, they could require sacrificing a “high level” of city services, he said.
City Manager Randy Knight canceled a budget workshop that had been scheduled for Thursday after the Legislature failed to take action on property tax cuts during its regular 60-day session, which ended earlier this month.
News Collaborative of Central Florida Receives $50K to Support Continued Growth
The group, which includes the Winter Park Voice, also hired its first project manager
Jan. 13, 2026
Staff Report
News Collaborative of Central Florida (NCCF), a collective of independent local news outlets and aligned partners working toward a more informed and engaged Central Florida, is announcing the next phase in its evolving service to the region. NCCF launched publicly in January of 2025 to collaborate on reporting about the local impacts of Florida’s Unauthorized Public Camping and Public Sleeping law (House Bill 1365). Over 100 stories were shared, amplifying reach of this vital reporting to residents.
That success has now been met with a combined $50,000 in funding from Collaborative Journalism Resource Hub (the Hub) and Central Florida Foundation, fueling the Collaborative’s next phase of growth. As part of this evolution, NCCF has onboarded its first dedicated team member, and in 2026, NCCF partners will pool their resources to provide comprehensive coverage of this year’s elections.
Erica Rodriguez Kight
“Our first year made it clear that collaborative journalism works, and we’re ready to take on elections coverage – made possible by the support from Collaborative Journalism Resource Hub and Central Florida Foundation,” says Judith Smelser, NCCF’s first task force chair and Central Florida Public Media’s president and general manager. “Ongoing community support is essential to sustaining this unique journalism model and ensuring it can continue delivering impactful reporting year over year.”
NCCF has contracted with Erica Rodriguez Kight as a dedicated project manager to establish governance, coordinate communication across partner organizations and support community engagement efforts that bring residents into the reporting process. Erica is the assistant director for mass media at the Nicholson School of Communication and Media at the University of Central Florida, where she’s also an associate lecturer in journalism and media production. Her background includes reporting roles at The Bradenton Herald and ABC affiliate WCJB-TV and a reporting fellowship with Cortico AI.
“Collaborative Journalism Resource Hub provides comprehensive support to journalism collaboratives across the U.S.,” says Amy Maestas, director of Collaborative Journalism Resource Hub. “News Collaborative of Central Florida is the first of 20 collaboratives the Hub will support over the next five years to advance the field of collaborative journalism. NCCF is a strong and dedicated group of media and community organizations that are willing to evolve from a competitive mindset to collaboration as a commitment to bringing stronger journalism to their communities. We look forward to being a resource as they join the robust and growing practice of collaborative journalism in the U.S.”
Beth Kassab
Central Florida Foundation serves as a convener, operational advisor and fiscal sponsor for NCCF and is an independent, trusted bridge builder across the journalism ecosystem. As the initial charitable investor in this emerging journalism model, Central Florida Foundation is proud to support local media coming together to better serve the region.
“This collaboration of journalists comes online at a critical moment, when Central Floridians are facing important decisions. By bringing together a more diverse group of journalists committed to helping residents understand what they are voting on, the News Collaborative of Central Florida plays an important role in strengthening our community,” says Mark Brewer, president and CEO, Central Florida Foundation. “Central Florida Foundation has a long history of supporting civic engagement, and local media is a vital pillar of a healthy, civically engaged region.”
The Winter Park Voice is contributing reporting and editing to provide resources and information to empower readers in Winter Park to be more engaged Central Florida residents.
“We know how much our readers value trustworthy news about their city and we are excited to bring them even more information about the 2026 ballots through the next phase of this partnership,” said Beth Kassab, editor of the Voice. “As a small nonprofit devoted to local news, we believe collaborations like this one are the way forward to keep credible, fact-based and independently-vetted information accessible to our community.”
Together, the media outlets participating in NCCF will be able to dig deeper into important local issues, cover more candidates and races and engage more community members.
Six Candidates (So Far) Step Up to Replace Demings as Orange County Mayor
Former Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy of Winter Park is one of the contenders
This story is part of the News Collaborative of Central Florida, a group of 10 local news outlets working towards a more informed and engaged region. It was originally published by VoxPopuli.
Dec. 11, 2025
By Dibya Sarkar, VoxPopuli
Orange County’s mayoral election is still a year away — the qualifying period doesn’t start for another seven months — but already a six-way contest is underway, drawing a diverse mix of political veterans and first-time candidates to replace the term-limited Mayor Jerry L. Demings, a Democrat, who has set his sights on the governor’s mansion.
The race may be a pivotal moment for the rapidly changing county, which just completed a six-month redistricting process to carve out the new districts 7 and 8 and add two new commissioners for increased representation on the Board of County Commissioners. The county faces significant population growth, exorbitant housing costs and a strain on infrastructure. There’s also the possibility that a measure to reduce or eliminate property taxes, which fund so many county services, may be on the ballot next year. The next mayor will likely shape and guide the region’s development and economy well into the future.
Unlike cities and towns, like Winter Park or Winter Garden, which function under a commission-manager style of government, Orange County, the fifth largest county in Florida, operates under a “strong mayor” form of government in which the mayor, rather than a city manager, runs the county, overseeing its 8,000 employees and $4.4 billion operating budget.
Officially, the mayoral election is a nonpartisan contest, meaning candidates do not run with party labels, and the election is open to all registered voters. Candidates need to qualify for the ballot during the June 6 to 12, 2026, qualifying period, either by paying the $9,923.57 fee or submitting 8,369 signatures, which represent 1% of the county’s registered voters.
Even without party labels, there will be a primary for the race. On Aug. 18, 2026, if any qualified candidate wins more than 50 percent of the vote, then they are elected outright, eliminating the need for the general election. If no candidate gets more than 50 percent, the top two vote-getters advance to the general election on Nov. 3, 2026.
For this roundup of the current candidates in the race, VoxPopuli reviewed candidates’ websites and social media pages and reached out to the six candidates by email and phone to ask why they’re running, what their priorities are and how they plan to address country services if voters elect to eliminate or reduce property taxes. All but District 3 County Commissioner Mayra Uribe, a Democrat, responded.
Still more candidates may join the race, but here’s who’s in the race now.
Safraaz Alli
Safraaz Alli, 46, who filed to run in mid-November, comes to Orlando from Berbice, Guyana, via Brooklyn and is a single father to a daughter. He said he understands what it takes to make ends meet. His campaign motto is Let’s elect a neighbor, not a politician. Let’s choose real change.
“I know firsthand what it’s like to worry about rent, to stretch every dollar at the grocery store, and to wonder if your kids will have the same opportunities you dreamed of when you came to this country,” his campaign website says.
In an emailed response to VoxPopuli, Alli, who ran for Orlando mayor in 2023, said he wants to be mayor of Orange County “because our community deserves bold leadership that tackles the challenges others have only managed around the edges.” He points to affordability, ending homelessness and building better infrastructure as his top three priorities, adding that he wants to “set audacious goals and deliver real change.”
On homelessness, he said the county has invested millions of dollars in dealing with the issue, “yet the number of people living unsheltered continues to rise — increasing by 23% in 2024 due to the lack of affordable housing and widening income gaps.” (The Homeless Services Network’s annual Point-In-Time Count survey confirms the statistic.)
Past administrations, he said, have not committed to a comprehensive strategy to end homelessness. In contrast, Alli said he would create permanent solutions, like more affordable housing and streamlined access to mental health and addiction services.
At the same time, Alli said Central Florida families are saddled with higher rents, property taxes and other costs. He would tackle that “by incentivizing affordable housing developments, cutting bureaucratic red tape for small businesses and ensuring county budgets focus on lowering burdens for working families rather than expanding government overhead,” he said.
“Other mayors have spoken about these issues, but they’ve stopped short of transformative action,” he said. “They’ve managed homelessness instead of ending it, and they’ve accepted rising costs instead of fighting them. I’m running now because Orange County cannot afford another four years of incrementalism.”
On transportation and growth, he said he would ensure that roads, transit and the environment “keep pace” with the county’s rising population.
When asked what he would do if property taxes are eliminated or reduced, an idea that Gov. Ron DeSantis is pushing, Alli said that funding public safety, including firefighters, police officers and other first responders, is “non-negotiable.”
“Right now, more than half of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and Fire Rescue budgets depend on property taxes. That’s why past mayors and county leaders have repeatedly raised property taxes — for example, in 2024 commissioners approved the first fire/EMS tax increase in 17 years, adding $150 per $250,000 home and raising $69.1 million,” he said. (The county commission did approve the measure.)
He said that he would diversify revenue streams through “impact fees on new developments, tourism-related revenues and partnerships with the private sector.”
He would also cut waste and bureaucracy from the county’s current $8.3 billion budget and redirect funds from non-essential projects to public safety without raising taxes. Some of the “nonessential projects” Alli singled out for the chopping block include travel, conferences and memberships not tied to critical operations; consultant contracts that don’t improve efficiency; services provided by multiple agencies; programs with low demand; non-critical capital projects; beautification projects, public art and marketing campaigns that don’t affect safety or legal obligations.
Additionally, Alli said he would explore “community benefit districts,” which are geographic districts where property owners self-impose fees to fund enhanced local services and improvements beyond what the city typically provides.
“Other mayors have failed because they treated property taxes as the only lifeline,” he said. “When costs rose, they raised taxes instead of rethinking the system. I will not repeat that mistake.”
A senior network administrator for the Orlando network consulting firm Bayshore Interactive, Randy Fust Jr., 32, describes himself on his Facebook candidate page, where he maintains running commentary on county, state and national politics, as “dedicated to progressive policy and serving as a shield against government overreach.”
He’s running for mayor, he told VoxPopuli in an email, to give a voice to residents who don’t feel that county officials have been listening to them.
“I have listened and engaged closely with community members, local organizations and policy leaders. It became clear that many residents feel unheard in the discussions that shape their daily lives,” said Fust, who filed to run in late July. He said he would not cater to special interests and would not accept corporate contributions that would influence him.
Fust has raised $1,090 in donations, according to a recent campaign finance report (a donation tracker on his campaign site currently pegs contributions at $1,373.49), and spent $38 to cover bank fees.
Fust’s plan, detailed on his campaign site, focuses on growth and housing, workforce issues and personal freedom.
Fust said the county is becoming more developed and expensive to live in. “I plan to use the rural boundary to guide growth into areas that already have infrastructure and to discourage development on untouched land whenever possible,” he said. It means reusing “vacant or underused buildings,” such as hotels and other large structures, to support transitional housing, and developing public-private partnerships to manage leases, help place people in housing and provide support and stability for people who need such temporary housing.
A devotee of the writings of the union organizer Eugene V. Debs, Fust, who worked in the construction industry after high school, wants to build “stronger and more resilient” workers through workforce development programs, apprenticeships and trade partnerships, along with greater collaboration with labor unions to provide new skills, career advancement and greater say in local decisions.
“The county will use its contracting power to encourage fair labor standards, safe workplaces, and strong employee benefits when working with private partners,” he wrote.
Fust, a Democrat, also wants residents to feel “safe and respected” in their communities by protecting their personal freedom. “County government should not police identity, faith, speech or access to lawful services. It should make sure residents are protected from discrimination and harassment in public spaces and county facilities,” he wrote. To that end, he wants to strengthen existing civil rights protections, improve training for the county workforce and ensure that all residents have access to public services.
When asked how he would fund services if a measure to eliminate or reduce property taxes ended up on the November ballot, Fust responded that “the most practical and proven approach is to modernize how we fund transportation.”
Three years ago, county residents roundly rejected a one-cent transportation sales tax to fund public transit, roads, traffic lights and signals, pedestrian safety and other initiatives. Fust, who said it came close to passing (although it lost by double-digit percentage points), said voters understand the need for such long-term investments. He advocates a stronger and clearer measure that could earn public confidence. (In recent months, the county has been revisiting the penny sales tax.)
“I will establish defined oversight and project management committees that operate with full transparency,” Fust wrote. “These bodies will publish project lists, monitor progress and report directly to the public. By placing transportation in a dedicated, voter-approved funding track with clear accountability, we protect the operating budget that supports fire rescue, law enforcement, and other essential public services.”
Chris Messina
Chris Messina, 67, who describes himself on his campaign Facebook page as a “visionary conservative & practical populist,” is the sole Republican in the race to date. This is his second run at the mayor’s chair — he made an unsuccessful bid during the 2022 midterms, coming in second to Demings in a four-way race.
“I think Orange County needs someone with a pretty strong business background, and someone who can come in with new ideas, and I’ve been a visionary my whole life,” Messina, who filed to run in April, told VoxPopuli by phone. Having run before, he said people have sought him out “with some of the problems and issues and challenges they see in the county.”
“I believe, fundamentally, we need a new vision in Orange County, not another recycled politician,” he said in the interview.
Messina said he wants to focus on initiatives that allow children, families and businesses to thrive; fast-track affordable housing development; diversify the economy, “particularly in space tech and advanced manufacturing … to complement the strength we have here in our theme parks and entertainment”; and eliminate excess regulations and bureaucracy.
A graduate of Rutgers University and Harvard Business School, Messina is a tech entrepreneur and CEO of Body1, a Cambridge, Mass.-based digital marketing and education company serving consumer health, life sciences, and medical sectors.
In a 2022 profile, Florida Politics wrote that Messina, who had moved from Boston to Central Florida just the year before, ran against Demings because he believed the mayor wasn’t running the county in “the way DeSantis was running Florida.” He specifically cited Demings’ COVID-19 policies and pursuit of a sales-tax increase to pay for transportation initiatives as “wrong-sighted.” Instead, Messina said he wanted to apply “an entrepreneurial solution” to address transportation, affordable housing, low wages, crime and other issues, including food insecurity.
His agenda this time is essentially the same.
In a June interview with radio host Mike Gilland, whose program airs on the Christian-based Shepherd Radio Network, Messina mentioned the Florida Politics 2022 profile with the headline, “Chris Messina wants to bring Orange County in line with DeSantis’ Florida.”
He explained that that meant becoming “more fiscally conservative and focused on solving real problems and kind of staying out of the major cultural issues, but making it clear that, you know, where we stand on things like protecting life in the womb and support for the family and the importance of investing in youth so they have opportunities in the future.”
Messina is a longtime advocate against abortion and maintains that the county needs to promote the message that “human life is sacred from conception to natural death.” He would like to see assistance for parents who may be overwhelmed by an unexpected pregnancy.
In 2022, Messina, who is the father of a child with Down syndrome, supported legislation to ban what he called “the targeted abortion of babies diagnosed in-utero with disabilities.” He also supports crisis pregnancy centers, which are offices that often resemble women’s clinics, but are set up to dissuade clients from obtaining birth control and abortions.
On his site, Messina says he supported ending COVID-19 vaccine mandates and removing fluoride in drinking water, which he describes as a “proven cognitive inhibitor.” (That is a misleading statement since the amount of fluoride added to U.S. community water systems to reduce cavities, including in Orange County, was half the amount of naturally occurring fluoride in water some studies associated with lower IQ.) Messina notes he’s also concerned about the “the environmental risks posed by weather modification experiments using metal cloud seeding.”
Other key issues in his platform include the economy, disability rights, crime, environmental protection and the arts.
Diversifying the economy is critical, he said. “Currently greater Orlando/Orange County ranks last out of the top 50 metro areas in the U.S. in average net income. Yet we have a tremendous opportunity to attract high-paying, tech-based employers,” he said, adding his team is identifying such firms. To that end, he wants the new Space Force Academy located in the county, given its proximity to Kennedy Space Center, the presence of several engineering companies, the University of Central Florida’s research capabilities and expertise, among other advantages.
In education, Messina, who worked as a mason’s helper before attending graduate school, is backing an initiative called Orange County Works. In a November press release, he explained it would pay up to $10,000 to cover tuition, fees, books, tools and equipment at accredited local trade schools, such as Orange Technical College and Valencia College, for county residents from high school juniors to adults interested in pursuing careers as electricians, plumbers, welders, HVAC technicians, auto mechanics, medical technicians, among others.
College is not for every student, Messina told VoxPopuli. “For them, options like the military or pursuing a career in the trades are the best opportunities, but we have got to make it possible for them to do that without incurring massive debt, which is killing our kids,” he said.
Messina, who has thrown his support behind Alicia Farrant, the District 3 school board member running for Orange County school board chair, states on his site that “our schools need to be safe zones.” His top priority in that regard is eliminating sex trafficking — he points to Florida’s third overall national ranking for the number of missing child reports, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Messina called that “shameful” and said, “we have to address it.”
However, he didn’t address school gun violence on his campaign website, even though firearms are the leading cause of death for children and teens.
A gun owner, Messina told VoxPopuli that he understands the issue and that his own firearms are locked in a gun safe. He said he supports safe storage as “just a fundamental basic rule of gun safety.” He also said, if elected, that he would assemble a task force to examine how programs to teach students de-escalation tactics could be used to help reduce gun violence in schools.
Messina also clarified a statement he had made on Instagram ahead of the “No Kings” rally in June, when he posted, “If you are not a U.S. citizen, you have no Constitutional rights. You are a guest in America and should act accordingly.” The U.S. Constitution protects everyone in the nation, including undocumented people.
Messina acknowledged it was a “fair point,” and modified his statement to say: “You have limited Constitutional rights. You have due process. You can’t be deprived of life, liberty or property without a fair legal procedure. But you are a guest in this country and you should act accordingly.”
On the property tax question, Messina offered a novel solution: a homestead exemption of $900,000 with a boost to millage rates on multiple investment homes to “make up for the shortfall in revenues,” he said.
“There’s some magic number. Maybe it’s three or four or five, beyond which if you own that many rental homes, you are running a private equity property business,” he said. “That’s not a view that maybe would traditionally be associated with a conservative, but that is my view. We have to give property tax relief, particularly to our seniors and to younger people who are starting out and finding it very hard to buy new homes.”
Another priority is “eliminating waste and unnecessary bureaucracy” in county government.
“That’s the place where my team is really focused,” he said. We know where some of these issues are, and that’s what we’re going to go after. Because unless you do that, you don’t have money to reinvest in things we need, like transportation modifications, affordable housing, economic diversification without raising taxes. But if you do that, well, then you can do those things without raising taxes.”
Messina has raised nearly $42,000 and has spent more than $33,000, according to his most recent campaign finance report.
Stephanie Murphy
Former Democratic Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy, 47, served three terms in the House of Representatives and developed a reputation as a results-driven moderate who worked across the aisle. She is pitching herself as the steady hand to guide Orange County through its rapid growth — focusing on affordable housing, transportation and strategic, balanced economic development.
In July, Murphy announced her candidacy in a brief video posted on X. In an emailed response to VoxPopuli, she reiterated those comments about why she wants to be mayor. She said that the county is growing faster than the government’s ability to keep pace, whether it’s housing costs, traffic issues, permitting delays, and people and businesses are feeling the effects of such ineffective systems.
“Families are feeling squeezed — costs are rising, wages aren’t keeping up, and it’s getting harder to make ends meet. We’ll lose too many valuable members of our community, like teachers, hospitality workers, or nurses, if they can’t afford to live here,” she wrote.
Murphy told us the county is at an “inflection point” and that if the government doesn’t act with “urgency and discipline now, the next decade of growth will happen to us instead of for us. I’m raising my family in Orange County, so I’ve got skin in the game. I want our county to be a great place for everyone to live.”
She added that her background in national security issues, bipartisan working relationships and private-sector experience is different from that of previous mayors, giving her the ability to run and modernize large bureaucracies.
Her top priorities, she wrote, are “cheaper housing and better paying jobs” for everyone and that “means building housing that people can actually afford so that families can live and thrive here.”
While the county’s economic engine is fueled by tourism today, she said it needs to be diversified for tomorrow. “We should actively recruit companies in the technology, health care, and innovation spaces to build new pillars of our economy, and create better paying jobs that can withstand recessions or natural disasters. All of this requires investing in real transportation solutions that connect people to places,” she wrote.
When asked what she would do if property taxes were eliminated or reduced, Murphy said that while an effort should be made to lower costs for homeowners, she had “real concerns” with DeSantis’s plan because the loss of such revenues would mean cuts to critical services.
“But if that becomes the reality, we need to do all we can to find a fair and smart way to raise revenue so that we can continue to provide critical services to Orange County residents,” she said. “It will be non-negotiable that funding for our community’s safety and police be maintained, while also working hard to protect taxpayers.”
The Pulse nightclub massacre in 2016 motivated Murphy to run for Congress, flipping a long-held Republican seat. She served in Congress from 2017 to 2023, representing Florida’s 7th Congressional District, which included downtown and northern Orlando, Winter Park, Maitland, Sanford, and Altamonte Springs. During her time there, Murphy served on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. Before Congress, she was a national security specialist at the U.S. Department of Defense. When she moved to Florida, she worked at the investment management firm SunGate Capital in Winter Park, where she lives, and taught business and entrepreneurship classes at Rollins College. Born in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Murphy and her family emigrated to the U.S. in 1979. She grew up in Northern Virginia and attended the College of William & Mary and Georgetown University, where she earned a master’s degree in the foreign service program.
Murphy has raised more than $150,000 in campaign donations, with nearly $54,000 spent, according to her most recent campaign finance report.
Tiffany Moore Russell
Orange County Clerk of Courts Tiffany Moore Russell, who served two terms as a county commissioner for District 6, announced her plan to run for mayor in late March, the first among the six to do so.
“This campaign isn’t about me — it’s about the people who make Orange County such an incredible place to raise a family, start a business and build a future,” she wrote in an email to VoxPopuli, adding that she’s devoted her career to public service, “and I’m not done yet.”
The 50-year-old Moore Russell, who’s a licensed attorney, said that the county needs a “proven leader with a strong record of service and a deep commitment to giving back.” She wants to have “kitchen-table conversations” with residents and “shape a future grounded in their priorities.”
Her top priorities are housing, transportation and infrastructure, and economic development. “These areas shape our quality of life, our ability to grow responsibly and the opportunities available to our residents,” she wrote. “Housing must be attainable for families at every stage of life. Our transportation and infrastructure must keep pace with our growth and keep people moving safely. And our economy must continue to create good jobs and support both small businesses and major employers.”
She said “specific plans” must have input from residents and communities, but “my focus is simple: strengthening the essentials that make Orange County a great place to live, work and build a future.”
When asked about the possibility of property taxes being eliminated or reduced, Moore Russell said that “public safety and essential services are the backbone of any strong community, and my priority is to ensure that departments like fire rescue and law enforcement remain fully supported, no matter what changes may come to the funding structure.” She said that any discussions about changes to property taxes should be done responsibly, thoughtfully and with a “community-driven plan,” and that lawmakers should be fully aware of the impact it will have on residents. She said she wants to ensure such services “are not weakened or compromised.”
“As Orange County Clerk of Court, I’ve spent more than a decade managing a budget that often fell short of the growing needs of the office. That experience taught me how to navigate challenging budget environments by focusing on priorities and ensuring essential services are protected first. It’s that same disciplined, practical approach I would bring to the county, making sure core services remain strong even when resources are tight,” she said.
On her campaign site, she notes that, as clerk since 2014, she has “prioritized fiscal accountability — returning unused emergency funds, investing in technology to safeguard public records, and streamlining court operations.” She launched a self-help center to help residents to navigate the legal system without an attorney and opened satellite offices, including the one in Ocoee, on certain weekends so that residents would not have to go downtown. Other accomplishments are listed here.
When Moore Russell, a Democrat, was first elected as clerk in 2014, she became the first Black clerk in Orange County and the first Black woman to serve as clerk of courts in the state of Florida.
Before then, she was the youngest person elected to the county commission for District 6, serving two terms. An Orlando native, Moore Russell received her bachelor’s in political science from the University of South Florida and a law degree from Florida State University College of Law, according to her county clerk bio. She is married to Anthony K. Russell, Jr., and they have two sons.
To date, the candidate has raised more than $104,000 in campaign donations and has spent more than $26,000, according to her most recent campaign finance report.
Mayra Uribe
Mayra Uribe, who announced her intention to run in May, has served as District 3 county commissioner for the last seven years and the county’s vice mayor since 2022. While the commission seat is non-partisan, Uribe is a registered Democrat.
During a press conference announcing her candidacy, Uribe, 52, said that the mayoralty isn’t something she necessarily sought out from the beginning. But, while she enjoyed her current role, she saw how “limited” she was in what she could do.
“I do not run the county. I cannot set the agenda. And I think that if we’re really going to get these jobs, if we’re really going to focus on having our economy come back, it has to come from the top,” she said, explaining that jobs and the economy are two of her biggest priorities.
Uribe’s platform isn’t much different from what she ran on when she won re-election in 2024.
“We need jobs that are actually going to pay so that people who live in Orange County can afford to work here, live here and thrive here, and we haven’t had that for a long time,” she said.
However, she emphasized that she isn’t criticizing county leadership, but that there needs to be greater focus on the economy and jobs to become more competitive. That includes, she said, making the county more “welcoming” to companies, small businesses and entrepreneurs.
“If you’re going to employ people, we need to help you move forward. And that’s what I want to see,” she said, adding that she wants residents who have gone to school and college here to remain in Central Florida. Uribe is an Orlando native, born in the district that she now represents.
Another priority is better transportation and infrastructure to help connect people and make them “prosperous.”
“If we don’t have a way to connect people, if we don’t have resilient infrastructure, we are doomed,” she said. Related to that, she said, is adding “workforce housing,” meaning that residents who work in the county, such as first responders, teachers and nurses, should also be able to live in the county. Still, many can’t, and that is “a significant problem.”
Uribe’s candidacy is not without controversy. Last year, Florida Politics reported that, since 2021, Uribe had donated more than 650 free tickets to concerts and sporting events, which were unavailable to the public, to a charity called All-Star Dads, operated by her husband, Kevin Sutton, who sometimes sold them for more than their value. The report said county commissioners have access to the mayor’s box at Camping World Stadium and the Kia Center, and are permitted to donate tickets to nonprofit leaders. Uribe has maintained that she didn’t do anything wrong and easily won reelection last year after the report came out.
The IRS revoked the tax-exempt status of her husband’s charity in May 2024. However, in May, the charity settled a complaint from the Florida Department of Agriculture.
Uribe, who lives in the Lake Jasmine neighborhood, has received an endorsement from the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 86, which represents Orange County Sheriff’s Office and Corrections Department employees, as well as the statewide Fraternal Order of Police union.
Before becoming commissioner, Uribe was a constituent aide to former Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson from 2000 to 2008. Her LinkedIn profile also lists her as a senior consultant at Strategic Alliance Consulting, but it’s unclear whether she’s still active with the firm and if it still exists. She said she has also worked as a radio host and owned a construction company.
To date, the candidate has raised more than $164,000 in campaign donations — the most of anyone in the race — and has spent nearly $65,000, according to her most recent campaign finance report.
Norine Dworkin of VoxPopuli contributed reporting.
Unopposed Races Seal Seats for Craig Russell and Elizabeth Ingram, Canceling Winter Park’s March Vote
The Winter Park High School coach will get a second term and a political newcomer will join the commission in March
Dec. 8, 2025
By Beth Kassab
Two City Commissioners were elected without opposition on Monday after the qualifying period ended at noon with only one candidate filing for each of the two seats that would have appeared on Winter Park’s March ballot.
City Commissioner Craig Russell was re-elected to his first full term in Seat 2 after winning a tight race in 2024 to finish the term vacated by Sheila DeCiccio when she became mayor. First-time candidate Elizabeth Ingram was elected to fill Seat 1, which was an open seat after Commissioner Marty Sullivan chose not to run again.
Elizabeth Ingram. Above photo: Ingram talks with a supporter at a recent event. Photos courtesy of the Ingram campaign.
Ingram, 38, will become the youngest member of the five-person commission.
A trained opera singer, she serves on the Public Art Advisory Board and previously led the Dommerich Elementary PTA. She said she hopes to focus on protecting the character that sets Winter Park apart from other communities.
She has been campaigning since the summer and filed to run in July.
“I’m so, so thankful for all of the supporters who rallied around me from the beginning,” Ingram said Monday afternoon, shortly after learning she would be elected without an opponent. “The most important thing for me as a commissioner is just being there for the residents. Am I representing them as well and as accurately as I can? Because that’s truly what my job is about. I’m excited to be a new young voice for Winter Park, and I’m excited to represent everybody.”
She raised just under $13,000, according to the most recent campaign finance report.
Michael Carolan, chairman of the real estate department at Winderweedle, Haines, Ward & Woodman, told the Voice in September that he planned to run for Seat 1 with backing from the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce. But Carolan announced on Facebook last month that he had decided not to run.
Russell said Monday that he is thrilled to have the opportunity to serve another term.
The Winter Park High School teacher and coach made history nearly two years ago as the first Black candidate elected in the city in more than a century. At 45, he is the youngest current commissioner.
Craig Russell
“I’m excited to continue the work that I started,” Russell said. “And I’m excited to hopefully gain the trust and respect of those who didn’t vote for me, because I work for and speak for all the residents.”
He listed engaging young people, improving infrastructure and transportation, and boosting community volunteerism and civic involvement as priorities. He helped spearhead the formation of a youth advisory council as well as an educational series on the safety of e-bikes and e-scooters for kids.
He has not yet filed a campaign finance report because he just filed his initial campaign documents last month.
Unopposed contests—particularly in local races—aren’t unusual and may even be increasing. According to data from BallotReady, 61% of city contests across the country were unopposed last year, compared to 44% in 2020.
Craig Russell poses with students who came out to support him at a candidate forum in 2024.
Fewer candidates mean voters have fewer choices about who represents them at the level of government closest to home—the policymakers who decide police and fire budgets, set road and traffic priorities, and shape the community through decisions about development, parks and how much residents pay for electricity and clean water.
Because both Winter Park races drew only one candidate, the March city election is canceled, and Russell and Ingram will be sworn in that same month. Commissioner Warren Lindsey was also elected without opposition earlier this year to Seat 4, meaning three of the five members of the incoming commission did not face voters at the polls.
If you’re a prolific petition signer, don’t be surprised if you receive a letter from the Orange County Supervisor of Elections asking about the petitions you signed to put amendments on the November 2026 ballot. Is that your signature on this petition? Did you really mean to sign it? Do you want to change your mind?
According to the new Florida law HB 1205 (aka Initiative Petitions for Constitutional Amendments), passed on May 2 and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis that same day, supervisors of elections are now required to mail out letters to every person who signed a petition for a ballot measure — say for legalizing recreational marijuana— to inform them that a petition with their signature was received by their office, confirm that voters intended to sign it and provide an opportunity to revoke the signature. (The law does not require supervisors to contact signers whose petitions were rejected, however.)
The Orange County Supervisor of Elections office is still fine-tuning the letters to be mailed out, Supervisor of Elections Karen Castor Dentel (pictured above) told VoxPopuli in a brief interview Wednesday. Voters can expect to receive letters in mid-November. If their signatures are fine, simply ignore the letters, Castor Dentel said.
“There is nothing for you to do. You don’t have to respond,” she said. “People have asked me if their signature was verified on a petition and they get this letter, if they don’t send it in or if everything was okay, will their petition still count? And it will. They’ll still count the petition … But just in case this [signature] isn’t yours, you have a second chance to deny it.”
Under the new law, voters who believe the signature is not theirs or who simply change their minds, can check one of two boxes on the letter, indicating the signature is misrepresented or fraudulent or that they wish to revoke their support for an issue. Those letters will then be mailed to the Office of Election Crimes and Security, which will conduct a preliminary investigation and if necessary report findings to the statewide prosecutor or appropriate state attorney for prosecution.
Still, Castor Dentel worries that even though the letters will contain the title of the petition signed, the added layer of bureaucracy may lead to voter confusion and mistrust.
“Many voters may not expect to receive a governmental letter asking whether they really signed something they know they signed, which could make them question the legitimacy of of the petition or even worry that they did something wrong,” she said. “Others might mistake the letter for a scam or think they need to take action when they don’t.
“Hopefully people will remember signing,” she continued, “and they’ll go Yes! I did that!, and this won’t create many letters going on to Tallahassee [to the Office of Election Crimes and Security].”
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