ORLANDO, Fla. — On Tuesday, Orlando residents will get to decide on three new commissioners as Districts 1, 3, and 5 are up for grabs with 12 candidates in the running.
While there are lots of new faces looking to fill those seats, there are also some familiar ones as well.
There are two incumbents on the ballot: District 1 Commissioner Jim Gray and District 5 Commissioner Shaniqua “Shan” Rose.
Voters in District 1 will have four choices for their district’s council seat. Running against Gray are candidates: Manny Acosta, Sunshine Grund and Tom Keen.
District 1 includes various communities like Lake Nona, Lee Vista and Sunbridge, along with other neighborhoods near Boggy Creek Road and Narcoossee Road.
But in District 3 — which includes College Park, Baldwin and Audubon Park — voters will have five candidates to choose from.
Those candidates are Samuel Chambers, Roger Chapin, Chris Durant, Kimberly Kiss and Mira Tanna.
Lastly, District 5 — which includes Parramore, Rock Lake and parts of downtown Orlando — has been occupied by Rose, who replaced Regina Hill when she was suspended following charges of elder exploitation and fraud.
Hill and Lawanna Gelzer are the two other candidates facing off against Rose Tuesday night.
The three districts mean many different priorities, but voters from both sides shared some of the issues that are top of mind for them.
“Seems to me that the number one issue is how we deal with development and the traffic issues that come from over development. I live out here in District 1 and obviously, we have traffic crisis on Narcoossee Road and has been critical as we talk to voters, we knocked on over 2,000 doors just this weekend,” said Orange County Democratic Party Chairman Samuel Vilchez Santiago.
“I’m firmly behind the public safety issue and its fire safety, police, our roadways, the hospitals, all the infrastructure that’s growing rapidly in our community. It’s all positive part of the growth,” said Orange County GOP’s Chuck Holmes.
Santiago says that the biggest hurdle they’ve come across is that a lot of people didn’t know they had to re-enroll for vote by mail because of new state laws.
There are 18 polling locations scattered across all three districts.
The polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m.