Voters in the tri-county area will head to the polls Tuesday to elect mayors, and council and commission members.
In Seminole County, Oviedo’s rapid growth, along with the ensuing traffic congestion, are among the top issues in the campaigns of the three candidates vying for the mayor’s seat.
Oviedo Mayor Megan Sladek, who is seeking a third term, faces opposition from former Council member Judith Dolores Smith and former Congressional candidate Brady Duke.
In Lake Mary, voters will cast ballots for either current Commissioner George Duryea – one of the longest serving elected officials in Florida – or his challenger Kristina Renteria, an accountant for a seat on the five-member commission.
Polls will be open between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.
Voters in Orange and Osceola also head to the polls Tuesday.
In Orlando, incumbent Mayor Buddy Dyer faces three challengers to be the city’s chief executive. He takes on former city commissioner Sam Ings, fitness professional Tony Vargas and former state senate candidate Steve Dixon.
City Commissioner Patty Sheehan faces business executive Katie Koch, and political consultant Randy Ross for the District 4 seat. While in District 6, incumbent Bakari Burns, also the CEO of the Healthcare Center for the Homeless, faces businessman Rufus Hawkins.
Election Results for Orange County, Lake County, Seminole County, Florida House 35
To find your polling station or other information about the Orlando elections, visit ocfelections.com/2023upcomingmunicipals.
A special State House election is also underway, with primaries for Democrats and Republicans in east Orange and part of Osceola.
The House District 35 race features Democrats Marucci Guzmán, the executive director of the nonprofit Latino Leadership; Rishi Bagga, a civil attorney; and Tom Keen, who served on Orlando’s Citizens’ Police Review Board and Veteran Advisory Council.
The Republicans are Erika Booth, an Osceola School Board member; Ken Davenport, a flight attendant; and Scotty Moore, the former director of a Christian nonprofit.
In their mayoral campaigns, the Oviedo candidates agreed that traffic is inevitable with growth. New businesses and homes means more cars and trucks on the roads.
However, Sladek, an attorney and real estate broker, advocates for providing additional multimodal options, such as more pathways that would accommodate pedestrians, bicycles and golf carts.
“If we can get people who are going two miles or less to feel like they can use something other than their cars,” she said.
Smith, an Oviedo native who served on the Council from 2019 to 2021, said it’s important that Oviedo keep “its small town flavor” as it continues to grow.
“We’re not a small town anymore,” said Smith, a former business owner and retired social worker.
Duke, a former Navy seal who was raised in Kissimmee and spent part of his childhood in Chuluota, said growth isn’t a problem. It means more people and businesses want to reside in the city.
“I think there are ways to minimize traffic congestion,” said Duke, in favor of widening and building more roads to make cars and trucks move more efficiently. He is a minister and small business owner.
Oviedo voters also will decide whether the city should borrow $35.5 million to help build a new and larger police station, that would replace the existing cramped headquarters.
Polling locations are at the Reformed Theological Seminary, 1231 Reformation Drive; Live Oak community building, 3550 Live Oak Reserve Blvd.; Center Lake Park, 299 Center Lake Lane.
In Lake Mary, accountant Duryea was first elected in 1987 to the city commission and is now seeking a new term. He did not respond to several requests to talk about his campaign. And he does not have a campaign website that would provide details about his objectives on the Commission.
Following a recent Sentinel investigative series “Toxic Secret” that detailed how the forever chemical 1,4-dioxane was discovered in water wells in Lake Mary, Sanford and northeast Seminole County, Renteria said she would push for more “aggressive testing” of the city’s drinking water.
She also noted that Lake Mary should provide its water customers in their bills a list of all the chemicals found in their water.
“I want to know what’s in it,” said Renteria, an accountant and small business owner.
She also wants to pursue federal and state funding so that Lake Mary can provide water filters and cancer screenings for residents because of the 1,4-dioxane contamination.
The likely source of the contamination was a former manufacturing plant on Rinehart Road. Two years ago, Lake Mary started operating its new $40-million, state-of-the-art water treatment plant that cleans out the 1,4-dioxane. The plant was paid for through an agreement with the former owners of the manufacturing plant.
Lake Mary voters can cast their ballots at the Lake Mary City Hall, 100 N. Country Club Road.
Ryan Gillespie of the Sentinel staff contributed.
mcomas@orlandosentinel.com
