Florida House District 47 Democratic Primary Debate
The Commitment 2026 primary debate series continues with the Democrat primary race for Florida House District 47.
Hi everyone, I’m Greg Fox with West 2 News and West.com, and you are joining us for once again, another in our series of debates for our commitment 2026 promise to bring you the candidates and the issues this election year. Uh, we are talking to the candidates in the. House District 47 race, that’s state House District 47, uh, that district touches two counties, mostly in Osceola County from south of Saint Cloud up along Narcusi Road on the east through Buenaventura Lakes and continuing north. Into Orange County just south of the communities of Meadow Woods and South Chase. Uh, let me show you the candidates first for *** quick second here. Uh, we have, uh, Jorge Figueroa and Anthony Nieves. They are the Democrats in House District 47. Welcome. Uh, I’m going to get through some house cleaning business right now and explain to people that as we record this debate at this time. Paula Stark, the Republican incumbent in this race, did not qualify to be on the ballot. So while that’s being challenged in court, if nothing changes, what it appears is that this will be *** universal or open primary, and one of these two gentlemen will be elected. And that means that everybody, regardless of whether you’re *** Democrat, Republican, or no party affiliation or *** minor party, you will get to vote in this race. The ballots have already been printed. More than 30,000 mail ballots have been sent out. So these two gentlemen are your candidates in Florida House District 47. All right, with that said, I’m going to give you Each *** minute to give an opening statement and we’re going to begin with uh Mr. Figueroa. One minute please. My name is Jorge Figueroa. I was born in Puerto Rico, raised in public housing, and moved at the age of 16 to the state of Wisconsin to achieve the American dream. During that time, I achieved my bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin Parkside. In finance, I also achieved *** master’s of Businestration of Business Administration from the University of Phoenix. I moved to Florida, um, you know, to start *** new life, and I met my wife, my beautiful wife, my family. Uh, while here, I became *** business owner and the former president of the Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce. of Central Florida and now I’m running because we see that Tallahassee is not listening to our constituents. It seems like they’re worrying about issues that doesn’t affect our families, our communities, so I want to make sure that we can focus on what really affects our community, which is affordable housing. Lower costs, better wages, and *** transparent healthcare system, as well as *** great education for our kids, and I think I have the skill sets to make this happen and make common sense and practical solutions in Tallahassee. All right, thank you very much, Mr. Dieves. One minute please. How are you? Thank you to, uh, West 2 and, uh, Hearst Communications. Thank you, Mr. Fox. My name is Anthony Nieves, and I’m the proud father of two children, uh, each and both educated in the Orange and Osceola County school districts. I’ve lived the majority of my adult life in HD 47. And I’m currently *** consumer protection advocate and advocate for people with disabilities. I’m *** former financial crimes investigator with the state of Florida and I’m ***, I was also *** former regional monitor with the Department of Juvenile Justice. I’ve also had *** stint of employment within the Osceola County Corrections Department. Prior to that, I was *** fraud investigator with the New York City government Department of Homeless Services. The residents of House District 47 have become increasingly frustrated with numerous instances of commotion within local government. Between the arrest of our last elected sheriff in Osceola County, rifts within city government, and most recently the non-qualification of our current for re-election of our current uh state representative, uh, Democrats and Republicans are fed up now. Unlike my opponent, I have no history of arrests or run-ins with the law. I offer *** pure and organic reset to good governance and practices that all Democrats, Republicans, and MPAs can be proud of. If I’m if I’m privileged to secure your. Confidence and vote, I will probably serve you, uh, as you expect and demand. All right, thank you very much. I want to talk to you about the Save Our Homes tax cut, which is on the ballot this year. Uh, just in the city of Saint Cloud, which is in District 47, revenue losses in the first two years would be $22 million. And statewide, by the time we hit year five, we’re talking about $12 billion annually that local governments would lose if this measure. The tax cut is passed. Uh, are you voting for this measure or against it, Mr. Figueroa, and why? You know, I don’t think this bill as it is is the right thing. I will vote against it because this is not *** real tax relief. It is *** tax shift, and what that means is that the funds that all these municipalities and cities are going to lose have to be made up somewhere else. So that means increased fees in. Other areas, increase taxes in other areas and it affects our first responders like firefighters, law enforcement, and the first responders, all those essential services that we need. So we’ve got to make sure that we have *** bill that is consistent with the needs of our community and that is actually going to bring relief. To the people that we serve, you know, we are going to see our quality of life suffer if this bill goes through. So we want to make sure that we have terminology there that has *** path for our local communities to make up those funds, and I think as it is, it is not *** good bill. We need to get back to the drawing table and draft *** new bill. All right, Mr. Figueroa is *** no vote on the save our homes tax cut. How about you, Mr. Nieves? I agree with that. I mean, it’s definitely *** no, *** no go. There’s, you have the issues where you have, you know, what is going to be affected in our local communities. You know, we have prideful communities that understand that. Uh, when it comes to the fire, corrections, police, they’re already underfunded. The staffing at each of those agencies, uh, the staffing in each of those agencies remains underfunded, but I don’t think that I’m certain that any type of tax relief is not going to benefit us at the local level. And then what it’s going to occur is you’re going to have to have the local residents now dispute what what’s going on with the financing within the county, so. It’s definitely not something that I that I support. uh, it’s gonna affect our law enforcement it’s gonna affect our social services, uh, and we’re gonna have to recoup that elsewhere now that might be recouped through local taxes or local uh sales taxes, but that is gonna have to be decided by the local constituents and that’s why, uh, for one, I’ve never been in favor of our state government, you know, intervening in local government practices. And policies. All right, let’s stick with Mr. Nieves for *** second. I’d like you to lay out your priorities. We get *** sense of who and what kind of *** politician you are, depending on what kind of causes you support. What would be the first bill you would file? The first bill I would file would be *** bill that’s been passing throughout the country. That’s Elijah’s Law. Elijah’s Law is *** bill that protects children that have that suffer from anaphylactic shock that deal with allergies. Uh, it’s *** bill similar to one passed by Carlos Gammell Smith and Rita Harris that they, you know, put together, uh, but that was applicable to the schools. I would like our, uh, aftercare because that’s *** big concern with our parents, especially our single, uh, parent households. Aftercare, uh, providers must be trained in anaphylactic shock, uh, what occurs, EpiPen usage, and currently that’s not law, so it’s been passed in both. Democrat states and Republican states, most recently in Arkansas, uh, with, uh, Governor, uh, Sanders, and, uh, I’d like to see that implemented here immediately. I have the team already prepared. Everything is pretty much centered with all the professionals involved, and that’s something that I know would be bipartisan and would be something that both parties, uh, both Republicans and Democrats would applaud. All right, Mr. Figueroa, first bill you would file. You know what, housing affordability, it is *** bill that I think we can all get behind. It is *** bill that not only touches on families but also on the economic factors. You know, we need to prioritize housing for our teachers, nurses, first responders, hospitality workers, and the young families who are being priced out of our communities. We have seniors who are on fixed incomes who are struggling to make ends meet, as well as losing their homes and hardworking families who are becoming homeless, not because of lack of work, but because they are being priced out. So during my time at the Osceola Housing Finance Authority, I saw the challenges firsthand how we are, we continue to grow. Our infrastructure is not keeping pace. We have to protect our water resources. We have to protect our environment. So it is *** full bill that covers all these areas because, like I say, it’s not only *** housing bill, but it’s *** quality of life. As well as an economic issue, if we have workforce housing and people can live where they work, businesses grow, they’re more productive, and we avoid all the traffic congestions that we’re facing. I want to stay on the affordability theme that’s far and away in every poll that we have seen in the last 6 months is the number one issue facing Americans and certainly here in Florida. Right now, Mr. Figueroa, the median income in Osceola County lags behind the state. It’s about $72,000 *** year. There are 65,000 people in Osceola County that are at the poverty level. So I want to continue this discussion. I’m going to get something from Mr. Nieves here in *** second, but Uh, let me give you another minute to talk about that. I, I want to see *** clear vision on what your plan is. Is it incentivizing developers to build, uh, affordable housing, or is this something else? I think we need to incentivize individuals to get into housing. We have already incentivized developers enough, and to be honest, during my time during the Osceola Housing Finance Authority, most of the developers are from out of state, which means that all the funds and all the profits go out of state. They do not stay within our communities. So I will incentivize developers to hire local contractors and to make sure that we have down payment assistance programs, that we have *** safety safety net. For seniors who are on fixed income, so that they, if one of them die, which has happened to me, I had *** neighbor, Aura, who was on Social Security with her husband. The husband passed away and she was priced out. She had to move out. Luckily she had family and friends who could help her, but you know, we need to protect our seniors. We need to protect our families, and we need to provide them more opportunities for them to be not only affordable housing through rent, but also through homeownership. So I think we definitely need to look at ways to help our families get into those homes. Mr. Nieves, um, housing affordability, what’s your plan? Well, when I moved down to Florida in 2004, I considered myself *** person that was part of the working class with one child born with disabilities on the nonverbal end of the spectrum of autism. I, I now am part of the working poor, uh, and, and housing affordability has been. Uh, the, the, the main topic, paying bills, groceries, there, there’s nothing left over and when you’re *** full-time parent to *** disabled child, you realize that it gets even worse. The services, you have to drive further. I spend 80 miles *** day just driving my kid to school and picking him back up. You can imagine the amount of tolls, the amount of gas that I’m consuming. When it comes to housing, we definitely need to incentivize developers that are in-state, developers that are adhering to practices that are possibly even green practices, but more importantly that provide *** substantial discount to our residents, reduced rate now. The issue that I’ve been seeing in the past 10 years is that even in affordable housing they’re starting to charge for the parking spaces that never were charged before. So if you have *** car, you’ve got to have *** car if you’re working, you know, in Central Florida, you need to have now they’re charging for the parking spaces on *** monthly basis, and that’s something that’s jacked up the rents about 10 to 15% depending on how many cars are in that household. We may get back to this. *** second, I want to talk about something that’s getting *** lot of attention right now in Orange County as the mayor for the second time has enacted his task force to look at how to spend tourist development tax money in Osceola County. It brings in about $80 million *** year and as you know, right now in Orange County there’s like $450 million in reserves. It is spent on tourism promotion, entertainment, sports venues, that sort of thing. If elected, would you, Mr. Nieves, push to change the law so that communities had greater flexibility, maybe to pay for transportation and say police and fire? Well, absolutely. I mean, the TDT, you know, the tourism development tax, first of all, the task force, you know, has the inclusion of major corporations. And, and that’s something that’s been, you know, ***, *** major concern with our constituents because it’s public dollars. Public dollars should be decided by the public, not without any intervention from corporations or any conglomerates that really have the final say when all is said and done, because they’ve got the team behind them, they’ve got the experts behind them, and community constituents like yourself. And I, you know, don’t have that, so, uh, it’s definitely something that, that has to occur, uh, public transportation, we have to invest. Saint Cloud, for example, still has one bus route even though the population has more than doubled over the last 25 years. It has one bus route, and that one links route does not offer more buses on ***, on an increased schedule, no. It’s the same schedule that they’ve been the same route schedule that they’ve been following for years, and many of our single parent households that result in being at that poverty or below poverty level, uh, they need that public transportation to survive. It already adds 2 to 4 hours to their daily work, uh, time, and, uh, it’s, it’s really, you know. Destroying, uh, the quality of life for, uh, homes that only have one income. Mr. Nieves, what do you, would you, uh, vote or sponsor or co-sponsor *** bill that would give more flexibility to communities to spend those TDT dollars? Myself, Figueroa, yeah, I’m sorry, Mr. Figueroa. Yes, definitely. Well, you know, I, I think, uh, it’s, it’s, it makes common sense, you know, we have, we receive over 80 million, uh, visitors each year, uh, to this area. You know, to the parks, etc. we have Disney, Universal spending tons of money with Visit Orlando to attract people to this area. I think it is important that they are part of the solution when it comes to funding the infrastructure to provide transportation to those visits. We are losing opportunities, economic opportunities in the area because we don’t have *** robust transportation system. The Lynx buses are breaking down. We have the Sunrail and Bright Line that is expanding, and we need more of that to make this *** more attractive area to bring more world-class events. At the same time, we need to look at the services that are spent with visitors, our law enforcement, our firefighters, our emergency response teams. Those are the ones that take care of those visitors, and we need to make sure that we have the resources it’s *** win-win both for businesses and for our community. Mr. Figueroa, as we mentioned at the beginning of this debate, there are going to be people who are not Democrats who are voting in this universal or open primary. Uh, talk to those Republicans, talk to the conservative-leaning independents who will have to choose between, uh, one of you two. What do you want to tell them? Well, definitely, I mean it’s *** clear choice, you know you have an individual who is *** true Democrat. I am *** small business owner. I was the Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce president for the last 5 years, so I am pro-business. I know the difficulties that small business owners go through in our region, and I’m also *** Believer, I’m *** man of faith. I’m *** Christian, so I have values that are universal across party lines. So I can look at our communities and the needs that we need for our communities, but at the same time look for economic ways to incentivize small businesses who create jobs, who are the backbone of this economy, and who are going to continue making our community better. On the other hand, you know. We have my opponent. He’s on the other side of the spectrum, you know. He’s ***, well, I mean, I’ll let him explain himself, but you know, for me, you have somebody who who has shared values with both Republicans and Democrats. I have worked on both sides across the aisle in my time with the Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce, and I will continue doing so in Tallahassee, bringing common sense and practical solutions for our people, Mr. N. Davis, I’ll give you an extra 30 seconds to include rebuttal, so 1 minute 30. What do you want to tell those non-Democrats who are going to be voting in this election? Well, I definitely want to counter what Mr. Figueroa was saying. He mentioned he’s *** true Democrat. Mr. Figueroa has never been *** registered Democrat for his entire adult life. I have. I’ve been *** registered Democrat since the age of 18, and for the last 30 something years, I’ve always voted along party lines. I’ve seen that, uh, you know, my party officials and representatives are the better choice, and to this day they’ve always been such. So the notion of *** true Democrat, I’m *** lifelong Democrat, you are not, you were not always *** Democrat. Secondly, I want to go back to the issue with 20 years ago, issues occurring 20 years ago. You have had run-ins in the law every practically every single year up until last year. So the notion of 20 years ago and brushing it under the table has to stop. The residents of Osceola County’s House District 47, Democrats and especially Republicans now without the representation of Paula Stark, deserve to know the truth. Someone who has been working in the areas of investigation, someone who has tackled fraud at the state, county, and national level, and that is something that I intend to bring to the residents of all right, thank you, Mr. Diego County and District 47. Additional 30 seconds to you, Mr. Figueroa, and then we’ll move on. Definitely. You know, I’ve always been *** Democrat since I turned 18 in Wisconsin, and I have always been true to myself with integrity. And like I say, you know, you can say everything, anything you want about my record, but we live in *** community and *** world of second chances. So I was given *** second chance. I was redeemed and I got the grace of God who has brought me to this point. And anybody who’s listening to me, if you ever make *** mistake, if you ever take *** bad decision, don’t worry about it. You can make it up, learn from the mistakes, and move on. On the other hand, unfortunately my opponent is not being 100% truthful. You know, he supported in the last cycle the Socialist Party. He’s *** self-proclaimed ultra. Liberal socialist, he even called himself *** communist, and I don’t think we need that in our communities. We need somebody who can work across the aisle, get things done in Tallahassee, practical solutions and common sense legislation that is going to help the people in our communities. All right, let’s move on. We’re right in the middle of hurricane season right now. As you well know, Osceola County, just like Orange County and *** number, *** number of other neighborhoods deal with flooding and in particular, uh, south of St. Cloud, that has been an issue. The governor was proud to announce that in June reserves of $18 billion.05 billion dollars in *** rainy day fund. Well, we’re, uh, as we record this debate, we’re looking at *** *** storm that is brewing in the Gulf. Fortunately, it doesn’t look like it’s headed our way, but we don’t know about the next storm. What is your plan and would you support *** bill, um, Mr. Figueroa, to take some of those funds and provide them to local communities like Osceola and Orange Counties, uh, to help with better drainage and other flood prevention? Oh definitely, you know, and that goes along with the the the infrastructure that we need to provide for our communities. You know we have different areas in Osceola County that are prone to flooding, and when we have all these major developments and we continue to grow, we’ve got to make sure that we have the infrastructure. The correct drainage facilities so that we don’t have these issues year after year. We are in *** hurricane zone, you know, being in Puerto Rico, I have gone through *** Category 4 hurricanes like Hurricane Hugo in 1989. You know, but here we have seen that year after year every time there’s *** hurricane our families suffer. We don’t have the resources. We don’t have the response time that we need. So if we have all those funds available, we definitely need to improve all those areas and make sure that All the infrastructure is in place for the water to go out and it doesn’t put our people in harm, so I will definitely look into that and I think we have the means to do it, Mr. Nieves. If you’re elected, uh, what’s your plan for helping to prevent flooding, especially in areas of District 47? Well, first I want to mention that there was *** reference that I’ve stated that I was *** communist. I’ve never stated publicly that I was *** communist. As *** matter of fact, I have the endorsement of *** Republican mayor of St. Cloud. Mayor Chris Robertson has endorsed my campaign, and he was actually one of the first to endorse my campaign. I’ve known Mayor Robertson for many years. He is *** pretty much born and raised resident of the community of Saint Cloud, and he’s *** Republican. This is an open primary and what I asked all of my constituents, all of our constituents, is to do your research, do your thorough research on each of the candidates. This is my 3rd election cycle. I’ve been vetted up and down. Making references that I’m *** communist, *** socialist, that goes hand in hand with extremism and for the safety and security of my well-being and the well-being of my children and family, that is something that is inaccurate, and I think that it needs to be addressed. But what needs to be addressed is again not the past, but rather the last 2 years where practically every single year you have some run-in with the law, including DUIs, and as *** person whose family suffered as *** result. An uncle that was hit by *** drunk driver and spent 45 years of his life until his death because of the, the irresponsible actions of *** drunk driver. Those comments that you’re making are completely irrelevant. We’re going to give 30 seconds to Mr. Figueroa. I didn’t get an answer unless you want to give me *** yes or no here. Are you OK with spending rainy day funds or reserves on, and I live in Buenaventura Lakes, and that’s an area that’s always been flooded since its creation. 30 seconds to respond to Mr. Nieves’s comments. Again, you know, my records there, they’re all public records, and you can look them up. You can go to my campaign and see what I am about. Again, you know, everybody, nobody’s perfect. Everybody has made some mistakes in their lives. It’s whether you bounce back, you learn from them. And you can redeem yourself and receive the grace of God like, like I have, you know, and we all deserve second opportunities. This is, everybody loves ***, *** second chance story and, and that’s what I’m doing here in Florida. That’s why I moved here. So, uh, yes. Mr. Nieves, I’m going to combine these two questions because I think we can get through it this way. We have Sunreal this year in which $14.5 million is coming from Orange County to keep that going, $12.2 million is coming from Osceola County, and then at the same time as we consider *** new airport route which would require hundreds of millions of dollars possibly in state money. Uh, we’re extending the express toll lanes and I-4 further and further, um, into, uh, Polk County, for example. Uh, my question is, if you’re sent to Tallahassee, is this something that we should be continually paying for and possibly on the state level, uh, for either one or both of these, or are you for or against toll roads? Are you for or against Sunrail expansion? I mean, it doesn’t run on nights and weekends, so some people wonder where’s this train going to end up and that’s that’s always been *** major concern and why it hasn’t been something that has motivated people to utilize those public transportation services because they’re impractical. You pretty much need *** car to drive to *** Sun rail station or you definitely need *** car if you want to use the Bright Line system to head down south, you know, for any type of festivities that are, you know, centered around Florida in general regardless of its location. Again, we have to think clearly. We have to not rely on federal funds, but then where are the funds going to come from? This is an issue that is not just isolated in the state of Florida. This is something that is every state is dealing with this. What is the situation regarding those that are that need employment, regarding incentives to have those employment avenues corrected so that we can have, you know, our. Population and our workforce strong and robust, which will then serve the communities and better as well as, you know, bring *** better bottom dollar to the employers. Mr. Figueroa, more money for toll roads or more money for Sunrail expansion? Do we have to get *** link to the airport before anybody is really going to say, wow, that system is really serving our regional transportation needs? What are your thoughts? I think we must definitely invest in public transportation, you know, faster transportation to and from work, to and from the parks, to and from the airport, and for other regional areas. Once we expand that, it’s going to help with congestion that comes with the infrastructure that we need to put in place for those services to be. Provided, it will make it easier not only for the tourists that come to our region, but also for individuals to get to and from work. It will alleviate the traffic jams that we’re facing and yes, we do. We need some expansion in the I-4 corridor and we’re seeing that in San Cloud and Osceola where they are expanding. The roads to have more, more lanes and, and we can do so, but we cannot continue putting more strain in our people, paying more tolls to get to different places. So I definitely support any expansion of public transportation, whether it be the Sun rail, Bright Line, links, and anything else that can bring our region up to the century. All right, our time is coming to an end, gentlemen. You’ll have one minute for *** close. We’ll begin with Mr. Nieves. Everyone can make *** mistake. That’s part of being human. But when public records show *** pattern of breaking the law over time up to and including the present, it stops being about one bad day or *** second chance or *** third chance and starts being about judgment and accountability. If we’re going to talk about law and order, that standard has to apply to everyone, residents of 47 as well as your representative in Tallahassee. My name is Anthony Nieves and I have the endorsement of Senator Victor Torres, Valerie Anderson, friends of, uh, uh, friends of Split Oak, Save Split Oak. Again, the mayor of Saint Cloud, Chris Robertson, uh, Saint Cloud City councilwoman, and the first African American, uh, councilperson, uh, Jen Paul. I’ve got the endorsement of our public defender, Melissa Bickers, State Representative Angie Nixon, as well as several organizations like Florida Rising, Orlando 5051. And the list goes on and on. What I ask you is to not be fooled. My residents that I’ve loved, that I’ve spent the majority of my adult life with, research your candidates and come to the conclusion, the truth will prevail, and this is not *** one-time deal. I was saved. We are saved. It’s *** matter of are you still breaking the law and are you the best reflection in Tallahassee for the constituents of House District 47, especially with the history that has occurred negatively regarding our elected officials. Thank you. I’ll give you an extra 30 seconds in addition to your 1 minute for your clothes. Go ahead, Mr. Figuero. Thank you. Thank you. Most, most of us work hard for the same things. We want respect. We want safety, and we want *** better life for our families. We don’t have to agree on everything, but we have to come to *** consensus. We need someone who’s going to bring practical solutions, common sense solutions, who’s going to be able to work with others across the aisle and put our people first in our communities. We don’t need to be pointing fingers. We don’t need to blame other people for things that are going on in our nation, and I’m fighting for to make Florida more affordable for everybody. To make sure that we have better wages, that our economy continues being strong, but at the same time that everybody can call Florida *** great place to live and where we can have *** great quality of life, we need *** representative that will fight for our community, that will stand for our families, and we want our families to thrive and help them thrive and not just survive, but also someone who can negotiate and compromise. I bring. Worth the experience and commitment to do those things not only for my family but for my community and all Floridians, and yes, you know, I exhort you to go to my page Jorge Figuera for Florida.com and you can see what our priorities are and you can see how I am *** man of faith. I have the endorsement of Sex Pliro of Representative Rashaw Young, as well as the Central Florida Hotel and Lodging Association. And other organizations that can make Florida great and this is our place and we want everybody to achieve the American dream just as I am. All right, gentlemen, thank you very much for joining us. Uh, spirited debate to say the least. OK, just *** reminder, while both of these gentlemen are Democrats, this is *** universal or open primary. That means on August 18th, people, regardless of party, will be able to vote in this race to send one of these gentlemen to Tallahassee. Of course, we’ll keep an eye on the situation involving the, uh, incumbent in this race who did not qualify on the ballot and the court challenge that is going on regarding Republican Paula Starr. Thanks for watching West 2 News and West.com.
Hi everyone, I’m Greg Fox with West 2 News and West.com, and you are joining us for once again, another in our series of debates for our commitment 2026 promise to bring you the candidates and the issues this election year. Uh, we are talking to the candidates in the. House District 47 race, that’s state House District 47, uh, that district touches two counties, mostly in Osceola County from south of Saint Cloud up along Narcusi Road on the east through Buenaventura Lakes and continuing north. Into Orange County just south of the communities of Meadow Woods and South Chase. Uh, let me show you the candidates first for *** quick second here. Uh, we have, uh, Jorge Figueroa and Anthony Nieves. They are the Democrats in House District 47. Welcome. Uh, I’m going to get through some house cleaning business right now and explain to people that as we record this debate at this time. Paula Stark, the Republican incumbent in this race, did not qualify to be on the ballot. So while that’s being challenged in court, if nothing changes, what it appears is that this will be *** universal or open primary, and one of these two gentlemen will be elected. And that means that everybody, regardless of whether you’re *** Democrat, Republican, or no party affiliation or *** minor party, you will get to vote in this race. The ballots have already been printed. More than 30,000 mail ballots have been sent out. So these two gentlemen are your candidates in Florida House District 47. All right, with that said, I’m going to give you Each *** minute to give an opening statement and we’re going to begin with uh Mr. Figueroa. One minute please. My name is Jorge Figueroa. I was born in Puerto Rico, raised in public housing, and moved at the age of 16 to the state of Wisconsin to achieve the American dream. During that time, I achieved my bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin Parkside. In finance, I also achieved *** master’s of Businestration of Business Administration from the University of Phoenix. I moved to Florida, um, you know, to start *** new life, and I met my wife, my beautiful wife, my family. Uh, while here, I became *** business owner and the former president of the Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce. of Central Florida and now I’m running because we see that Tallahassee is not listening to our constituents. It seems like they’re worrying about issues that doesn’t affect our families, our communities, so I want to make sure that we can focus on what really affects our community, which is affordable housing. Lower costs, better wages, and *** transparent healthcare system, as well as *** great education for our kids, and I think I have the skill sets to make this happen and make common sense and practical solutions in Tallahassee. All right, thank you very much, Mr. Dieves. One minute please. How are you? Thank you to, uh, West 2 and, uh, Hearst Communications. Thank you, Mr. Fox. My name is Anthony Nieves, and I’m the proud father of two children, uh, each and both educated in the Orange and Osceola County school districts. I’ve lived the majority of my adult life in HD 47. And I’m currently *** consumer protection advocate and advocate for people with disabilities. I’m *** former financial crimes investigator with the state of Florida and I’m ***, I was also *** former regional monitor with the Department of Juvenile Justice. I’ve also had *** stint of employment within the Osceola County Corrections Department. Prior to that, I was *** fraud investigator with the New York City government Department of Homeless Services. The residents of House District 47 have become increasingly frustrated with numerous instances of commotion within local government. Between the arrest of our last elected sheriff in Osceola County, rifts within city government, and most recently the non-qualification of our current for re-election of our current uh state representative, uh, Democrats and Republicans are fed up now. Unlike my opponent, I have no history of arrests or run-ins with the law. I offer *** pure and organic reset to good governance and practices that all Democrats, Republicans, and MPAs can be proud of. If I’m if I’m privileged to secure your. Confidence and vote, I will probably serve you, uh, as you expect and demand. All right, thank you very much. I want to talk to you about the Save Our Homes tax cut, which is on the ballot this year. Uh, just in the city of Saint Cloud, which is in District 47, revenue losses in the first two years would be $22 million. And statewide, by the time we hit year five, we’re talking about $12 billion annually that local governments would lose if this measure. The tax cut is passed. Uh, are you voting for this measure or against it, Mr. Figueroa, and why? You know, I don’t think this bill as it is is the right thing. I will vote against it because this is not *** real tax relief. It is *** tax shift, and what that means is that the funds that all these municipalities and cities are going to lose have to be made up somewhere else. So that means increased fees in. Other areas, increase taxes in other areas and it affects our first responders like firefighters, law enforcement, and the first responders, all those essential services that we need. So we’ve got to make sure that we have *** bill that is consistent with the needs of our community and that is actually going to bring relief. To the people that we serve, you know, we are going to see our quality of life suffer if this bill goes through. So we want to make sure that we have terminology there that has *** path for our local communities to make up those funds, and I think as it is, it is not *** good bill. We need to get back to the drawing table and draft *** new bill. All right, Mr. Figueroa is *** no vote on the save our homes tax cut. How about you, Mr. Nieves? I agree with that. I mean, it’s definitely *** no, *** no go. There’s, you have the issues where you have, you know, what is going to be affected in our local communities. You know, we have prideful communities that understand that. Uh, when it comes to the fire, corrections, police, they’re already underfunded. The staffing at each of those agencies, uh, the staffing in each of those agencies remains underfunded, but I don’t think that I’m certain that any type of tax relief is not going to benefit us at the local level. And then what it’s going to occur is you’re going to have to have the local residents now dispute what what’s going on with the financing within the county, so. It’s definitely not something that I that I support. uh, it’s gonna affect our law enforcement it’s gonna affect our social services, uh, and we’re gonna have to recoup that elsewhere now that might be recouped through local taxes or local uh sales taxes, but that is gonna have to be decided by the local constituents and that’s why, uh, for one, I’ve never been in favor of our state government, you know, intervening in local government practices. And policies. All right, let’s stick with Mr. Nieves for *** second. I’d like you to lay out your priorities. We get *** sense of who and what kind of *** politician you are, depending on what kind of causes you support. What would be the first bill you would file? The first bill I would file would be *** bill that’s been passing throughout the country. That’s Elijah’s Law. Elijah’s Law is *** bill that protects children that have that suffer from anaphylactic shock that deal with allergies. Uh, it’s *** bill similar to one passed by Carlos Gammell Smith and Rita Harris that they, you know, put together, uh, but that was applicable to the schools. I would like our, uh, aftercare because that’s *** big concern with our parents, especially our single, uh, parent households. Aftercare, uh, providers must be trained in anaphylactic shock, uh, what occurs, EpiPen usage, and currently that’s not law, so it’s been passed in both. Democrat states and Republican states, most recently in Arkansas, uh, with, uh, Governor, uh, Sanders, and, uh, I’d like to see that implemented here immediately. I have the team already prepared. Everything is pretty much centered with all the professionals involved, and that’s something that I know would be bipartisan and would be something that both parties, uh, both Republicans and Democrats would applaud. All right, Mr. Figueroa, first bill you would file. You know what, housing affordability, it is *** bill that I think we can all get behind. It is *** bill that not only touches on families but also on the economic factors. You know, we need to prioritize housing for our teachers, nurses, first responders, hospitality workers, and the young families who are being priced out of our communities. We have seniors who are on fixed incomes who are struggling to make ends meet, as well as losing their homes and hardworking families who are becoming homeless, not because of lack of work, but because they are being priced out. So during my time at the Osceola Housing Finance Authority, I saw the challenges firsthand how we are, we continue to grow. Our infrastructure is not keeping pace. We have to protect our water resources. We have to protect our environment. So it is *** full bill that covers all these areas because, like I say, it’s not only *** housing bill, but it’s *** quality of life. As well as an economic issue, if we have workforce housing and people can live where they work, businesses grow, they’re more productive, and we avoid all the traffic congestions that we’re facing. I want to stay on the affordability theme that’s far and away in every poll that we have seen in the last 6 months is the number one issue facing Americans and certainly here in Florida. Right now, Mr. Figueroa, the median income in Osceola County lags behind the state. It’s about $72,000 *** year. There are 65,000 people in Osceola County that are at the poverty level. So I want to continue this discussion. I’m going to get something from Mr. Nieves here in *** second, but Uh, let me give you another minute to talk about that. I, I want to see *** clear vision on what your plan is. Is it incentivizing developers to build, uh, affordable housing, or is this something else? I think we need to incentivize individuals to get into housing. We have already incentivized developers enough, and to be honest, during my time during the Osceola Housing Finance Authority, most of the developers are from out of state, which means that all the funds and all the profits go out of state. They do not stay within our communities. So I will incentivize developers to hire local contractors and to make sure that we have down payment assistance programs, that we have *** safety safety net. For seniors who are on fixed income, so that they, if one of them die, which has happened to me, I had *** neighbor, Aura, who was on Social Security with her husband. The husband passed away and she was priced out. She had to move out. Luckily she had family and friends who could help her, but you know, we need to protect our seniors. We need to protect our families, and we need to provide them more opportunities for them to be not only affordable housing through rent, but also through homeownership. So I think we definitely need to look at ways to help our families get into those homes. Mr. Nieves, um, housing affordability, what’s your plan? Well, when I moved down to Florida in 2004, I considered myself *** person that was part of the working class with one child born with disabilities on the nonverbal end of the spectrum of autism. I, I now am part of the working poor, uh, and, and housing affordability has been. Uh, the, the, the main topic, paying bills, groceries, there, there’s nothing left over and when you’re *** full-time parent to *** disabled child, you realize that it gets even worse. The services, you have to drive further. I spend 80 miles *** day just driving my kid to school and picking him back up. You can imagine the amount of tolls, the amount of gas that I’m consuming. When it comes to housing, we definitely need to incentivize developers that are in-state, developers that are adhering to practices that are possibly even green practices, but more importantly that provide *** substantial discount to our residents, reduced rate now. The issue that I’ve been seeing in the past 10 years is that even in affordable housing they’re starting to charge for the parking spaces that never were charged before. So if you have *** car, you’ve got to have *** car if you’re working, you know, in Central Florida, you need to have now they’re charging for the parking spaces on *** monthly basis, and that’s something that’s jacked up the rents about 10 to 15% depending on how many cars are in that household. We may get back to this. *** second, I want to talk about something that’s getting *** lot of attention right now in Orange County as the mayor for the second time has enacted his task force to look at how to spend tourist development tax money in Osceola County. It brings in about $80 million *** year and as you know, right now in Orange County there’s like $450 million in reserves. It is spent on tourism promotion, entertainment, sports venues, that sort of thing. If elected, would you, Mr. Nieves, push to change the law so that communities had greater flexibility, maybe to pay for transportation and say police and fire? Well, absolutely. I mean, the TDT, you know, the tourism development tax, first of all, the task force, you know, has the inclusion of major corporations. And, and that’s something that’s been, you know, ***, *** major concern with our constituents because it’s public dollars. Public dollars should be decided by the public, not without any intervention from corporations or any conglomerates that really have the final say when all is said and done, because they’ve got the team behind them, they’ve got the experts behind them, and community constituents like yourself. And I, you know, don’t have that, so, uh, it’s definitely something that, that has to occur, uh, public transportation, we have to invest. Saint Cloud, for example, still has one bus route even though the population has more than doubled over the last 25 years. It has one bus route, and that one links route does not offer more buses on ***, on an increased schedule, no. It’s the same schedule that they’ve been the same route schedule that they’ve been following for years, and many of our single parent households that result in being at that poverty or below poverty level, uh, they need that public transportation to survive. It already adds 2 to 4 hours to their daily work, uh, time, and, uh, it’s, it’s really, you know. Destroying, uh, the quality of life for, uh, homes that only have one income. Mr. Nieves, what do you, would you, uh, vote or sponsor or co-sponsor *** bill that would give more flexibility to communities to spend those TDT dollars? Myself, Figueroa, yeah, I’m sorry, Mr. Figueroa. Yes, definitely. Well, you know, I, I think, uh, it’s, it’s, it makes common sense, you know, we have, we receive over 80 million, uh, visitors each year, uh, to this area. You know, to the parks, etc. we have Disney, Universal spending tons of money with Visit Orlando to attract people to this area. I think it is important that they are part of the solution when it comes to funding the infrastructure to provide transportation to those visits. We are losing opportunities, economic opportunities in the area because we don’t have *** robust transportation system. The Lynx buses are breaking down. We have the Sunrail and Bright Line that is expanding, and we need more of that to make this *** more attractive area to bring more world-class events. At the same time, we need to look at the services that are spent with visitors, our law enforcement, our firefighters, our emergency response teams. Those are the ones that take care of those visitors, and we need to make sure that we have the resources it’s *** win-win both for businesses and for our community. Mr. Figueroa, as we mentioned at the beginning of this debate, there are going to be people who are not Democrats who are voting in this universal or open primary. Uh, talk to those Republicans, talk to the conservative-leaning independents who will have to choose between, uh, one of you two. What do you want to tell them? Well, definitely, I mean it’s *** clear choice, you know you have an individual who is *** true Democrat. I am *** small business owner. I was the Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce president for the last 5 years, so I am pro-business. I know the difficulties that small business owners go through in our region, and I’m also *** Believer, I’m *** man of faith. I’m *** Christian, so I have values that are universal across party lines. So I can look at our communities and the needs that we need for our communities, but at the same time look for economic ways to incentivize small businesses who create jobs, who are the backbone of this economy, and who are going to continue making our community better. On the other hand, you know. We have my opponent. He’s on the other side of the spectrum, you know. He’s ***, well, I mean, I’ll let him explain himself, but you know, for me, you have somebody who who has shared values with both Republicans and Democrats. I have worked on both sides across the aisle in my time with the Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce, and I will continue doing so in Tallahassee, bringing common sense and practical solutions for our people, Mr. N. Davis, I’ll give you an extra 30 seconds to include rebuttal, so 1 minute 30. What do you want to tell those non-Democrats who are going to be voting in this election? Well, I definitely want to counter what Mr. Figueroa was saying. He mentioned he’s *** true Democrat. Mr. Figueroa has never been *** registered Democrat for his entire adult life. I have. I’ve been *** registered Democrat since the age of 18, and for the last 30 something years, I’ve always voted along party lines. I’ve seen that, uh, you know, my party officials and representatives are the better choice, and to this day they’ve always been such. So the notion of *** true Democrat, I’m *** lifelong Democrat, you are not, you were not always *** Democrat. Secondly, I want to go back to the issue with 20 years ago, issues occurring 20 years ago. You have had run-ins in the law every practically every single year up until last year. So the notion of 20 years ago and brushing it under the table has to stop. The residents of Osceola County’s House District 47, Democrats and especially Republicans now without the representation of Paula Stark, deserve to know the truth. Someone who has been working in the areas of investigation, someone who has tackled fraud at the state, county, and national level, and that is something that I intend to bring to the residents of all right, thank you, Mr. Diego County and District 47. Additional 30 seconds to you, Mr. Figueroa, and then we’ll move on. Definitely. You know, I’ve always been *** Democrat since I turned 18 in Wisconsin, and I have always been true to myself with integrity. And like I say, you know, you can say everything, anything you want about my record, but we live in *** community and *** world of second chances. So I was given *** second chance. I was redeemed and I got the grace of God who has brought me to this point. And anybody who’s listening to me, if you ever make *** mistake, if you ever take *** bad decision, don’t worry about it. You can make it up, learn from the mistakes, and move on. On the other hand, unfortunately my opponent is not being 100% truthful. You know, he supported in the last cycle the Socialist Party. He’s *** self-proclaimed ultra. Liberal socialist, he even called himself *** communist, and I don’t think we need that in our communities. We need somebody who can work across the aisle, get things done in Tallahassee, practical solutions and common sense legislation that is going to help the people in our communities. All right, let’s move on. We’re right in the middle of hurricane season right now. As you well know, Osceola County, just like Orange County and *** number, *** number of other neighborhoods deal with flooding and in particular, uh, south of St. Cloud, that has been an issue. The governor was proud to announce that in June reserves of $18 billion.05 billion dollars in *** rainy day fund. Well, we’re, uh, as we record this debate, we’re looking at *** *** storm that is brewing in the Gulf. Fortunately, it doesn’t look like it’s headed our way, but we don’t know about the next storm. What is your plan and would you support *** bill, um, Mr. Figueroa, to take some of those funds and provide them to local communities like Osceola and Orange Counties, uh, to help with better drainage and other flood prevention? Oh definitely, you know, and that goes along with the the the infrastructure that we need to provide for our communities. You know we have different areas in Osceola County that are prone to flooding, and when we have all these major developments and we continue to grow, we’ve got to make sure that we have the infrastructure. The correct drainage facilities so that we don’t have these issues year after year. We are in *** hurricane zone, you know, being in Puerto Rico, I have gone through *** Category 4 hurricanes like Hurricane Hugo in 1989. You know, but here we have seen that year after year every time there’s *** hurricane our families suffer. We don’t have the resources. We don’t have the response time that we need. So if we have all those funds available, we definitely need to improve all those areas and make sure that All the infrastructure is in place for the water to go out and it doesn’t put our people in harm, so I will definitely look into that and I think we have the means to do it, Mr. Nieves. If you’re elected, uh, what’s your plan for helping to prevent flooding, especially in areas of District 47? Well, first I want to mention that there was *** reference that I’ve stated that I was *** communist. I’ve never stated publicly that I was *** communist. As *** matter of fact, I have the endorsement of *** Republican mayor of St. Cloud. Mayor Chris Robertson has endorsed my campaign, and he was actually one of the first to endorse my campaign. I’ve known Mayor Robertson for many years. He is *** pretty much born and raised resident of the community of Saint Cloud, and he’s *** Republican. This is an open primary and what I asked all of my constituents, all of our constituents, is to do your research, do your thorough research on each of the candidates. This is my 3rd election cycle. I’ve been vetted up and down. Making references that I’m *** communist, *** socialist, that goes hand in hand with extremism and for the safety and security of my well-being and the well-being of my children and family, that is something that is inaccurate, and I think that it needs to be addressed. But what needs to be addressed is again not the past, but rather the last 2 years where practically every single year you have some run-in with the law, including DUIs, and as *** person whose family suffered as *** result. An uncle that was hit by *** drunk driver and spent 45 years of his life until his death because of the, the irresponsible actions of *** drunk driver. Those comments that you’re making are completely irrelevant. We’re going to give 30 seconds to Mr. Figueroa. I didn’t get an answer unless you want to give me *** yes or no here. Are you OK with spending rainy day funds or reserves on, and I live in Buenaventura Lakes, and that’s an area that’s always been flooded since its creation. 30 seconds to respond to Mr. Nieves’s comments. Again, you know, my records there, they’re all public records, and you can look them up. You can go to my campaign and see what I am about. Again, you know, everybody, nobody’s perfect. Everybody has made some mistakes in their lives. It’s whether you bounce back, you learn from them. And you can redeem yourself and receive the grace of God like, like I have, you know, and we all deserve second opportunities. This is, everybody loves ***, *** second chance story and, and that’s what I’m doing here in Florida. That’s why I moved here. So, uh, yes. Mr. Nieves, I’m going to combine these two questions because I think we can get through it this way. We have Sunreal this year in which $14.5 million is coming from Orange County to keep that going, $12.2 million is coming from Osceola County, and then at the same time as we consider *** new airport route which would require hundreds of millions of dollars possibly in state money. Uh, we’re extending the express toll lanes and I-4 further and further, um, into, uh, Polk County, for example. Uh, my question is, if you’re sent to Tallahassee, is this something that we should be continually paying for and possibly on the state level, uh, for either one or both of these, or are you for or against toll roads? Are you for or against Sunrail expansion? I mean, it doesn’t run on nights and weekends, so some people wonder where’s this train going to end up and that’s that’s always been *** major concern and why it hasn’t been something that has motivated people to utilize those public transportation services because they’re impractical. You pretty much need *** car to drive to *** Sun rail station or you definitely need *** car if you want to use the Bright Line system to head down south, you know, for any type of festivities that are, you know, centered around Florida in general regardless of its location. Again, we have to think clearly. We have to not rely on federal funds, but then where are the funds going to come from? This is an issue that is not just isolated in the state of Florida. This is something that is every state is dealing with this. What is the situation regarding those that are that need employment, regarding incentives to have those employment avenues corrected so that we can have, you know, our. Population and our workforce strong and robust, which will then serve the communities and better as well as, you know, bring *** better bottom dollar to the employers. Mr. Figueroa, more money for toll roads or more money for Sunrail expansion? Do we have to get *** link to the airport before anybody is really going to say, wow, that system is really serving our regional transportation needs? What are your thoughts? I think we must definitely invest in public transportation, you know, faster transportation to and from work, to and from the parks, to and from the airport, and for other regional areas. Once we expand that, it’s going to help with congestion that comes with the infrastructure that we need to put in place for those services to be. Provided, it will make it easier not only for the tourists that come to our region, but also for individuals to get to and from work. It will alleviate the traffic jams that we’re facing and yes, we do. We need some expansion in the I-4 corridor and we’re seeing that in San Cloud and Osceola where they are expanding. The roads to have more, more lanes and, and we can do so, but we cannot continue putting more strain in our people, paying more tolls to get to different places. So I definitely support any expansion of public transportation, whether it be the Sun rail, Bright Line, links, and anything else that can bring our region up to the century. All right, our time is coming to an end, gentlemen. You’ll have one minute for *** close. We’ll begin with Mr. Nieves. Everyone can make *** mistake. That’s part of being human. But when public records show *** pattern of breaking the law over time up to and including the present, it stops being about one bad day or *** second chance or *** third chance and starts being about judgment and accountability. If we’re going to talk about law and order, that standard has to apply to everyone, residents of 47 as well as your representative in Tallahassee. My name is Anthony Nieves and I have the endorsement of Senator Victor Torres, Valerie Anderson, friends of, uh, uh, friends of Split Oak, Save Split Oak. Again, the mayor of Saint Cloud, Chris Robertson, uh, Saint Cloud City councilwoman, and the first African American, uh, councilperson, uh, Jen Paul. I’ve got the endorsement of our public defender, Melissa Bickers, State Representative Angie Nixon, as well as several organizations like Florida Rising, Orlando 5051. And the list goes on and on. What I ask you is to not be fooled. My residents that I’ve loved, that I’ve spent the majority of my adult life with, research your candidates and come to the conclusion, the truth will prevail, and this is not *** one-time deal. I was saved. We are saved. It’s *** matter of are you still breaking the law and are you the best reflection in Tallahassee for the constituents of House District 47, especially with the history that has occurred negatively regarding our elected officials. Thank you. I’ll give you an extra 30 seconds in addition to your 1 minute for your clothes. Go ahead, Mr. Figuero. Thank you. Thank you. Most, most of us work hard for the same things. We want respect. We want safety, and we want *** better life for our families. We don’t have to agree on everything, but we have to come to *** consensus. We need someone who’s going to bring practical solutions, common sense solutions, who’s going to be able to work with others across the aisle and put our people first in our communities. We don’t need to be pointing fingers. We don’t need to blame other people for things that are going on in our nation, and I’m fighting for to make Florida more affordable for everybody. To make sure that we have better wages, that our economy continues being strong, but at the same time that everybody can call Florida *** great place to live and where we can have *** great quality of life, we need *** representative that will fight for our community, that will stand for our families, and we want our families to thrive and help them thrive and not just survive, but also someone who can negotiate and compromise. I bring. Worth the experience and commitment to do those things not only for my family but for my community and all Floridians, and yes, you know, I exhort you to go to my page Jorge Figuera for Florida.com and you can see what our priorities are and you can see how I am *** man of faith. I have the endorsement of Sex Pliro of Representative Rashaw Young, as well as the Central Florida Hotel and Lodging Association. And other organizations that can make Florida great and this is our place and we want everybody to achieve the American dream just as I am. All right, gentlemen, thank you very much for joining us. Uh, spirited debate to say the least. OK, just *** reminder, while both of these gentlemen are Democrats, this is *** universal or open primary. That means on August 18th, people, regardless of party, will be able to vote in this race to send one of these gentlemen to Tallahassee. Of course, we’ll keep an eye on the situation involving the, uh, incumbent in this race who did not qualify on the ballot and the court challenge that is going on regarding Republican Paula Starr. Thanks for watching West 2 News and West.com.
Florida House District 47 Democratic Primary Debate
The Commitment 2026 primary debate series continues with the Democrat primary race for Florida House District 47.
Updated: 4:20 PM EDT Jul 21, 2026
The Commitment 2026 primary debate series continues with Florida democrats from House District 47. >>Watch the debate aboveThis district is a part of Osceola County from south of St. Cloud, east through Buena Ventura Lakes and continuing north into Orange County. The candidates for this debate are Jorge Figueroa and Anthony Nieves. House district 47 will be an open primary, meaning voters do not have to be affiliated with one political party to vote in the primaries for this district. Candidates were asked about views on the property tax bill, affordability, including Florida’s Tourist Development Tax. They discussed the specific legislation they would enact to help the community. Moderated by political reporter Greg Fox, this debate is part of an ongoing series of debates that will focus on the general races across the nine districts that WESH 2 covers. The debates will appear in their entirety at WESH.com with portions airing in WESH 2 newscasts and social media posts ahead of the Nov. 3 election.
ORLANDO, Fla. —
The Commitment 2026 primary debate series continues with Florida democrats from House District 47.
>>Watch the debate above
This district is a part of Osceola County from south of St. Cloud, east through Buena Ventura Lakes and continuing north into Orange County. The candidates for this debate are Jorge Figueroa and Anthony Nieves.
House district 47 will be an open primary, meaning voters do not have to be affiliated with one political party to vote in the primaries for this district.
Candidates were asked about views on the property tax bill, affordability, including Florida’s Tourist Development Tax. They discussed the specific legislation they would enact to help the community.
Moderated by political reporter Greg Fox, this debate is part of an ongoing series of debates that will focus on the general races across the nine districts that WESH 2 covers. The debates will appear in their entirety at WESH.com with portions airing in WESH 2 newscasts and social media posts ahead of the Nov. 3 election.