With just two months to go, campaigns for two city seats heat up
At least two candidate events are scheduled for the coming week
Jan. 19, 2024
By Beth Kassab
With less than two months until Election Day, candidates are shifting into an intensified ground game for votes with multiple forums on the calendar, social media pushes and a dose of partisan politics that prompted one sitting commissioner to back out of an upcoming event for one candidate.
Kris Cruzada, who was elected in 2022 to Seat 3 with nearly 52% of the vote, said Friday he would no longer attend a lunch scheduled for Tuesday hosted by the Winter Park Republican Women Federated that will feature Stockton Reeves, a candidate for Seat 2.
Winter Parkers will go to the polls on March 19, the same day as Florida’s Republican presidential primary. That means the 38% of the city’s nearly 22,000 voters who are registered as Republicans will also find the presidential candidates on their ballots. Democrats account for 36% of city voters and those without a party affiliation make up another 24%, according to the most recent counts from the Orange County Supervisor of Elections.
An invitation from the Republican group said Cruzada would speak after Reeves talks about “some very direct and enlightening information on what is actually going on in City Hall.”
“You will be surprised to hear how the left is turning our gem of a city into a liberal bastion of taxing and spending with a woke agenda,” read the invitation from Hattie Bryant, president of Winter Park Republican Women.
Cruzada, the only elected Republican who serves on the commission, said he disagreed with that characterization.
“I disagree because we have a balanced budget,” Cruzada said. “We have to keep up with the rate of inflation and we’ve also increased our tax rolls because of the increase in appraised property values. Like everybody else, we are trying to keep employees and run a city with limited resources when everything is going up in price.”
Bryant confirmed Cruzada would instead appear at a future meeting and said Reeves, who also ran as a Republican for a State House seat, would have about five minutes to speak.
Reeves, who recently loaned $50,000 to his own campaign, according to reports filed on Friday, said his message that day would be the same as it is to any other group and emphasized his focus on public safety and other issues such as historic preservation and the budget.
“I am not asking any political party for help or support though I have people from both major parties, independents and non-party affiliates helping me and supporting me financially,” he told the Voice.
Jason Johnson, an attorney who has so far raised more than $26,000, and Craig Russell, a teacher and coach at Winter Park High who has raised $4,600, are expected to appear at the forum for Seat 2 candidates on Monday evening at the Winter Park Library. Reeves said he is trying to work out a scheduling conflict so that he can also attend.
A similar event for the two candidates for mayor is scheduled for the morning of Feb. 8. The events are free and open to the public.
Vice Mayor Sheila DeCiccio is running for mayor against real estate school owner Michael Cameron. DeCiccio has raised nearly $22,000 so far, according to the most recent campaign finance reports.
Cameron, who reported $1,500 in contributions, has run a relatively quiet campaign so far, but in recent days he created a profile dedicated to the campaign on Facebook and TikTok. His posts include his apparent support of the Republican Party and Gov. Ron DeSantis based on the hashtags he included such as #redwave, #conservative and the governor’s name.
“I had so many great conversations today and sometimes I just got the door slammed directly in my face and that’s OK,” he said in a video about his collection of signatures to get on the ballot. “There are residents of Winter Park who don’t have a voice and I want to try to be that voice.”
The Winter Park Chamber of Commerce will host a forum for all five candidates on Feb. 7.
NOTE: This story has been updated to reflect more context surrounding the quote from the invitation from Winter Park Republican Women.
WinterParkVoiceEditor@gmail.com
Retreat and fear of debate are not attractive attributes in an elected official.
Not showing up because you disagree is rarely the best course of action for a candidate. It makes you look weak.
This is Beth Kassab: “My son Johnnie, who always does his homework on time and listens to his parents DESEVES all “A”s. But Mary’s son Billie, who got an all-“A” report card, I am not sure he does his homework and very possibly is a disobedient child”. Come on Beth, you can at least SOUND somewhat unbiased!
*DESERVES”, sorry, typo
So you guys censored my comment re. Beth Kassab – so no level field, no free speech – only the approved narrative? Sad, but not surprising.
What was censored? Where is Beth’s bias? Please provide specifics. Just cause you don’t like something does not mean it is biased.
Thank you for putting the comment back. Wish I didn’t have to write the one about censorship to make it happen😘
That’s not what made it happen. I have to approve comments, which I do regularly, but not 24-7. If anyone notices a delay, it’s likely because I am not in front of the computer. We are a small operation, but we work as quickly as we can — even on the weekends. I generally approve comments except for those that don’t meet our standards such as those that center on personal attacks, bigotry or claim facts that are untrue or can’t be verified quickly by me. This is not a forum for conspiracy theories or wild speculation with no basis in reality. I generally approve attacks and criticisms people write about me (comes with the territory) but I do my best to protect others when it seems personal and/or malicious in nature. Hope this is helpful.
So why not highlight the other candidates political affiliations? Are they Democrats or not? Why only identify Reeves and Cruzada political affiliations if this is a non partisan election?
Beth, Many have been censored here. You only print the Voices that align with your obvious agenda!
Beth, Did you ask Hattie for clarification. She might have supplied you with the numbers that support her comment along with all the unnecessary ordinances ( gas blower ban – vaping/ cigarette ban that allows cigars) passed by the current Mayor & Commission. You failed to tell how we residents felt about The Winter Park Commons and it’s permanent impact on a historic black community of Winter Park. True Journalism gives both sides a Voice! It’s never too late to bring people together in OUR CITY!
Thank you for bringing this up since it has been done to many of us
The first rule of partisan club is you do not talk about partisan club.
Movie stars change their name.
Mr. Michael Cameron Sidawi has dropped his last name and prefers to be called Michael Cameron. Why?
Is that a TikTok thing?
Yet, on the City financial reporting forms it appears as though Mr. Sidawi serves as his own campaign Treasurer and on the signature line for Treasurer, he signs Sidawi.
Is the candidate running for Mayor legally named Mr. Cameron or Mr. Sidawi? Why the confusion?
He filed legal papers so you have your answer. Let’s not get into discrimination!
“..or claim facts that are untrue or can’t be verified quickly by me.”
Sounds like The Twitter Files all over again.
Pete it’s a copy and paste response from The Sentinel. That’s the same line they’ve been giving their readers for years.
Oh wow what a sick burn to accuse me of upholding some basic standards for journalism and decency. I’ve told you before, I’m proud of the work I did at the Sentinel and remain proud of the work my colleagues are still doing there today.
Really! Stop the petty bickering. Hattie’s comment was out of line, period. Use of the trite overused phrases to instill division in a city election has no place in community.
Peter, “voterrecords” can be found at a website by the same name dot com. Public info.
No conspiracy theories needed. This is a political advocacy site disguised as a news site. It’s not a criticism just a description. Why would the 3 main financial backers have a site that promotes the opposite of what they want? They’re not dummies. My only complaint is the anonymous posts.
Maybe Beth mentioned their party affiliation as they are speaking at a political party event and thus a partisan event! One candidate has partisan material on his social media. You all need to stop with the censoring falsehoods. Beth has pretty lenient criteria so if she did withhold your post you might want to self reflect!
BOGO on tin foil at Publix today!
People don’t read. The story says clearly that Crudza is the only Republican on the city commission.
Q: Is the Voice recording the Feb 7 candidate debate for those of us unable to attend?
The Chamber is posting recording to Chamber FB page.