Orange County’s mayoral race this year has been considerably under the radar, considering it has significant implications for the future of a county that nearly 1.4 million people call home. And that’s not to mention major tourist attractions such as Disney World and Universal Studios that drive the county’s multibillion-dollar tourist economy.
Four candidates are in the running this year for Orange County mayor, including three Democrats and one Republican, although the position is officially nonpartisan. The mayor serves a four-year term and is limited to two consecutive terms in office. The job currently pays an annual salary of $261,209.
Whoever wins the consequential election will succeed outgoing Mayor Jerry Demings, a former police chief and sheriff who is term-limited from running for re-election himself. Demings had previously been campaigning to become Florida’s next governor, but suspended his gubernatorial campaign in June after receiving a prostate cancer diagnosis…