At 10 p.m. on election night, just before a few key races were called, the mood at the Orange County Democrats’ election viewing party at the Embassy Suites was celebratory.
“What a night!” said Orlando attorney and LGBT activist Mary Meeks. “Except for Val [Demmings, U.S. Representative candidate], everything seems to be going our way.”
A few minutes later, it was officially called a win for Joe Saunders and Linda Stewart, candidates for State Representative.
Saunders won the race for District 49, becoming Florida’s second openly gay state representative. (The first was David Richardson, who secured his Miami-area District 113 seat with a victory in the August primary.) The stakes were high for the new District 49 seat, created as a result of population shifts and redistricting. The territory leans Democrat over Republican (41% to 30%) and covers a largely Hispanic area of east Orange County that also includes the huge UCF community. Republicans were concerned a Democrat win would be just enough to deprive Republicans of the super-majority that allows them to pass legislation almost at will, so Republicans infused more than a half million dollars into the race to tout their candidate, former UCF student body president Pena.
As the former statewide field director for Equality Florida, Saunders is well-known to the LGBT community. He’s smart, articulate and effective, and played a major role in recent non-discrimination and DPR successes throughout the state. He’s also a UCF graduate.
Saunders won a hard-fought Democratic primary with 65% of the vote.
Linda Stewart fought to fill the shoes of Scott Randolph, who was successful in his race for Orange County Tax Collector, a role Randolph stepped into when Democratic incumbent Earl K. Wood passed away on Oct. 15. Previously, Randolph had served as State House Representative for District 47, which had been redrawn to give Republicans a slight registration advantage over Democrats (39% to 38%).
Stewart faced off against physician Bob Brooks. Back in 1996, the former state legislator appeared on the cover of Watermark after he sent a letter to Disney expressing disappointment when they extended health care benefits to same-sex domestic partners. “[They are engaged in] a lifestyle that is unhealthy, unnatural and unworthy of special treatment,” Brooks wrote in 1996.
Sixteen years later Brooks has distanced himself from the letter, but not by much. In an interview with WMFE, Brooks said his unique knowledge of AIDS and HIV would benefit people “in that lifestyle” without ever uttering the word “gay.” He says he no longer focuses on social issues and supports domestic partner registries: “My principles are the same, but my priorities have changed.”
As an Orange County Commissioner and afterward, Stewart has been a champion for full LGBT equality and she earned an endorsement by Equality Florida. She played an influential role in passage of the county’s HRO and DPR, and now sits on the advisory board of the Harvey Milk Foundation.
The Democratic disappointment on Nov. 6 was the U.S. House race to represent District 10. Republican Daniel Webster beat out Democrat and former Orlando Police Chief Val Demings.
Other races of interest: Former Congressman and outspoken liberal Alan Grayson is headed back to Congress to represent central Florida’s District 9.
Grayson defeated his Republican challenger, conservative radio host and Tea Party favorite Todd Long.
Grayson was a freshman representative when he was soundly defeated two years ago. This time around, he had a huge fundraising advantage over Long, more than 44-to-1.
Grayson supports full marriage equality and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.
As of presstime on Nov. 6, LGBT-supportive Democrat Eileen Game lost the race for District 42 to Republican challenger Mike LaRosa. The seat opening up when Republican incumbent Mike Horner quit the race after his name showed up on a local brothel’s client list.
Here is a quick glimpse at some of the other Orange County-specific elections:
(As of press time on Nov. 6, 224 or 227 precincts were reporting)
U.S. SENATE
Bill Nelson (D) 63%
Connie Mack (R) 35%
U.S. HOUSE DIST. 5
Corrine Brown (D) 76%
LeAnne Kolb (R) 21%
U.S. HOUSE DIST. 7
John Mica (R) 56%
Jason Kendall (D) 44%
U.S. HOUSE DIST. 8
Bill Posey (R) 54%
Shannon Roberts (D) 44%
U.S. HOUSE DIST. 9
Alan Grayson (D) 62%
Todd Long (R) 38%
U.S. HOUSE DIST. 10
Daniel Webster (R) 50.23%
Val Demings (D) 49.66%
STATE SENATE DIST. 8
Dorothy Hukill (R) 55%
Frank Bruno (D) 45%
STATE SENATE DIST. 10
David Simmons (R) 56%
Leo Cruz (D) 44%
STATE SENATE DIST. 12
Geraldine Thompson (D) 69%
Fritz Seide (R) 31%
STATE SENATE DIST. 13
Andy Gardiner (R) 53%
Christopher Pennington (D) 47%
STATE SENATE DIST. 14
Darren Soto (D) 67%
William McBride (R) 33%
STATE SENATE DIST. 15
Kelli Stargel (R) 60%
Stego Blue (D) 40%
STATE SENATE DIST. 29
Chris Dorworth (R) 50.1%
Mike Clelland (D) 49.9%
STATE SENATE DIST. 30
Karen Castor Dentel (D) 53%
Scott Plakon (R) 47%
STATE SENATE DIST. 42
Mike LaRosa (R) 51%
Eileen Game (D) 49%
STATE SENATE DIST. 43
Ricardo Rangel (D) 68%
Art Otero (R) 32%
STATE SENATE DIST. 45
Randolph Bracy (D) 69%
Ronney Oliveira (R) 31%
STATE SENATE DIST. 47
Linda Stewart (D) 52%
Bob Brooks (R) 48%
STATE SENATE DIST. 49
Joe Saunders (D) 56%
Marco Pena (R) 44%
STATE SENATE DIST. 50
Tom Goodson (R) 54%
Sean Ashby (D) 46%
CIRCUIT JUDGE GROUP 7
Leticia “Letty” Marques 58%
Joel Wilson 42%
ORANGE COUNTY COMM. DIST. 3
Pete Clarke (R) 50%
Lui Damiani (NPA) 50%
As of press time, Clarke had just 36 more votes than Damiami with 100% of the relevant precincts reporting.
ORANGE CO. CLERK OF THE COURTS
Lydia Gardner 95%
Write-In 5%
ORANGE CO. SHERIFF
Jerry Demings (D) 62%
John Tegg (R) 38%
TAX COLLECTOR
Earl K. Wood / Scott Randolph (D) 56.5%
Jim Huckeba (R) 43.5%
SUPERVISOR OF ELECTIONS
Bill Cowles (D) 68%
Dan Fanelli (R) 32%
SCHOOL BOARD DIST. 4
Vicky Bell 50.8%
SOIL & WATER CONSERVATION DIST. 1
Cynthia Ellenburg 39%
SOIL & WATER CONSERVATION DIST. 3
Nicole Victoria McLaren 60%
SOIL & WATER CONSERVATION DIST. 5
Kevin Butler 50%
ORANGE COUNTY CHARTER AMENDMENTS
- Amendment 1 – YES to give voters, and not the governor, the power to fill vacancies on the county commission
- Amendment 2 – YES to require that the Charter Review Commission finish its work in time to avoid the kind of uncertainty that contributed to the recent sick time controversy
- Amendment 3 – YES to give the County Commission the ability to set uniform gambling regulations throughout the county
- Amendment 4 – NO to authorize creation of village advisory boards for unincorporated areas to weigh in on local problems and growth
- SPECIAL REFERENDUM – YES to require city and county approval of development that would impact overcrowded public schools
