ABOVE: Photos courtesy Martin Fugate. Editor’s Note: An earlier edition if this story misspelled Commissioner Stuart’s last name and has been corrected.
ORLANDO | Martin Fugate, owner of Ritzy Rags Wigs & More and better known as drag entertainer Leigh Shannon, announced that he is ending his campaign for Orlando City Commissioner – District 3.
In a statement posted to his Facebook page, Fugate said he was ending his campaign “[d]ue to unforeseen circumstances.”
“I have been honored and humbled by the support shown to me these past few months, and will continue to be engaged and serve as a ‘voice of the people’ for our community going forward,” Fugate said in the statement.
Fugate, who has lived in District 3’s College Park neighborhood with his husband for 15 years, moved his business to the area in April after more than 30 years in the Mills50 District.
Speaking with Watermark by phone Sept. 16, Fugate says his decision to withdraw from the race came from a major health scare he had about six weeks ago.
“I’m doing very well and I’m feeling fine,” Fugate says. “It’s nothing long lasting and it’s not going to kill me but it was scary in the beginning. It drained me for about five weeks and I lost major time from the campaign, major fundraising time, and plus it took a lot of my stamina.”
Along with losing time on the campaign trail, Fugate also had to take a couple of weeks away from working at his shop and from performing.
“Everything is coming back good but it was a health scare and I felt like the voters deserve a 100% healthy, go-get-em candidate,” he says. “I talked to some friends who are doctors and nurses, and they feel like I should just lay back and rest for a little bit.”
Fugate took the opportunity to announce that he would be supporting the current District 3 commissioner, Robert Stuart, in his bid for re-election. Stuart has represented the district since 2006.
“I had a long talk with Stuart yesterday and I’m going to endorse him. That will probably shock a lot of people,” Fugate says.
Fugate’s biggest issue during his campaign has been fighting against the controversial Rosemont development, a $1 billion plan to add more than 5,600 new apartments and 350,000 square feet of retail and commercial space to the district.
“It’s just too massive,” Fugate said in July. “They’re putting in an eight-story building which will bring thousands of apartments. The roads won’t be able to handle all that extra traffic, where is all that sewage going to go? They aren’t listening to the residents, many of them don’t want this massive building in their neighborhood.”
Last month the city commissioners voted 5-2 to move forward with the development plan with Stuart and Tony Ortiz voting against it.
“I’m deeply saddened that a commissioner of his own district, who has worked hard and went through all the meetings I went through with him, wasn’t listened to. You know, 98% of the people in this district didn’t want all those apartments, they wanted home ownership,” Fugate says. “I have to give Stuart credit for standing up for the district and that’s a good reason for me to endorse him.”
In his statement, Fugate called out each of the commissioners — Jim Gray, Patty Sheehan, Regina Hill and Bakari Burns — as well as Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer for supporting the Rosemont deal.
“I urge them to begin to consider listening to public input and considering changes to future development plans prior to approving them. They are getting too powerful and not listening to the ‘voices of the people,'” he said.
Stuart’s current challengers for his district seat include criminologist Nicolette Springer and progressive candidate Samuel Chambers. Fugate says he looked into both candidates before deciding to support Stuart.
“The people of District 3 deserve representation on the issues they care about, many of which I have been running on,” Fugate said. “My supporters and I would like to know where the remaining candidates stand on common-sense growth, property taxes, tools for the police force, property incentives, public input, proper docking of bikes and scooters, pedestrian & cyclist safety and empowering women and minorities.”
Fugate says that while he is ending his campaign, it doesn’t mean he is going anywhere and that he will continue to remain civically engaged and continue to advocate for positive change in his district.
“I’m very happy today,” he says. “It was a very emotional decision for me, but it’s been a great ride and I feel like I might have made some difference.”
