Eric Gray, the longtime director of Orlando’s Christian Service Center, is making his first run for public office, challenging Republican state Rep. Erika Booth in Florida House District 35. The 50-year-old homelessness advocate enters the race with a fraction of Booth’s campaign cash, but he says his years helping people navigate homelessness in Central Florida have pushed him toward the State Capitol instead of the Orange County Commission seat he originally filed to seek.
A Political Newcomer Shifts His Sights
Gray switched his target office, moving from an earlier bid for county commission to this bigger challenge against Booth, according to the Orlando Sentinel. He has led the Christian Service Center since 2020, an organization that provides resources to homeless people in the region, and he has never sought public office before this campaign. Gray, who lives in Waterford Lakes, is the father of four children and is divorced; he holds a master’s in public administration from the University of Kentucky and a bachelor’s in telecommunications operations from the University of Florida, as reported by Florida Politics.
House District 35 includes parts of eastern Orange and Osceola counties, a politically competitive patch of Central Florida. Democrat Tom Keen flipped the seat in a January 2024 special election, only for Booth to beat him back ten months later in the November 2024 general election. The most recent L2 voter data show the district nearly evenly split, with 42,837 registered Republicans, 41,806 Democrats and 48,995 voters registered as third-party or with no party affiliation, Florida Politics reports.
A Money Gap That Favors the Incumbent
Booth starts the cycle with a significant financial edge. Her campaign has raised $258,000, a funding advantage that derives largely from corporate donors and other groups, while Gray’s campaign has raised $83,000, relying almost exclusively on donations from private individuals, per the Sentinel’s reporting. Republican leaders have marked HD 35 as a priority district this cycle, and Booth is expected to receive backing from House Speaker-designate Sam Garrison, according to Florida Politics. She has also cast more than 1,000 votes in the Florida House, voting with her party 99% of the time.
Booth did not respond to interview requests from the Orlando Sentinel for the article. Her campaign website includes no detailed political platform, while Gray’s campaign site lists affordable housing, supporting public schools, a clear path to economic success for young people, and diversifying allowable uses of tourism tax dollars among his stated issues.
Clashing Views on Homelessness and a Camping Ban
Florida enacted a law in 2024 banning camping in public spaces, and Gray says the policy has played out in painful ways on the ground. He recounted seeing homeless people arrested for sitting on sidewalks after police told them to move along, adding that some of them could not physically get up to comply. According to Gray, Orlando police officials and local politicians told him they opposed enforcing the new law but felt they had no choice…