Incumbent Orlando City Commissioner Jim Gray is facing challenges from former Rep. Tom Keen and two others in Tuesday’s election.
With a war chest of more than $122,000, Gray has out-raised Keen, Sunshine Linda-Marie Grund, and Manny Acosta. He also picked up some big endorsements from the Orlando Sentinel’s editorial board, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, Orlando City Commissioner Tony Ortiz, and the Central Florida Hotel and Lodging Association.
However, Keen has been an underdog before — and won. He was an upset victor when he flipped state House District 35 in a special election last year, although he later lost his bid for re-election. Turning his sights to Orlando City Council this time, Keen has won endorsements from several Democratic leaders, including U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost, state Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, and state Rep. Anna Eskamani.
Gray, Keen, Grund, and Acosta are competing in Tuesday’s election for District 1, which includes Lake Nona, the Orlando International Airport, Visa Park, and Sunbridge. Early voting ends at 3 p.m. Sunday. Polls on Election Day will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. If no candidate wins more than 50% of the vote, the race will go to a runoff in December.
Even though the City Council race is non-partisan, politics are still at play. The Republican Party of Florida sent out a mailer supporting Gray, calling him “the last Republican standing” on the city council who is “surrounded by liberals,” according to the Orlando Sentinel. The ad slammed Keen for being a “liberal extremist,” although Keen, a Democrat, has pointed out that District 1 leans Democratic. Other officials complained the mailer was homophobic, the Sentinel reported.
Keen and Gray have squared off before. In 2017, Gray beat Keen for City Council with 53% of the vote in a three-way race.
Gray, first elected to City Council in 2012, is the Orlando Managing Director for CBRE, a commercial real estate services and investment firm. He supports adding more parks, pointing to four parks he said he spearheaded in District 1, according to his website. “Jim believes in the principles of smart growth and holds developers’ feet to the fire to make sure they don’t run over neighbors,” the website also states.
Keen, a former Navy officer, is running on a platform that includes increasing public safety, fixing Orlando’s traffic problems, and other issues. “Our city has historically allowed unfettered development, leading to traffic jams, unstable housing, and communities that are disconnected from our city,” his campaign website says. “Annexation should not be used as a handout to developers and corporations. It’s time to hold developers accountable by forcing them to develop new areas with a community-first focus and prioritize multiple modes of transportation to help people move around our city.”
Sunshine Linda-Marie Grund, a real estate agent and managing director of Sweet Dreams Realty, said she wants to focus on more community policing, improving traffic, and adding more affordable housing, according to her campaign website. She previously ran unsuccessfully for Orange County Supervisor of Elections last year and for Gray’s seat in 2021.
Manny Acosta does not appear to be actively campaigning. He did not set up a campaign website or attend an Orlando debate last month.
https://floridapolitics.com/archives/763388-jim-gray-fights-to-keep-his-seat-from-challengers-tom-keen-and-sunshine-linda-marie-grund/
