The four candidates vying to be Orange County’s next mayor grappled Friday with topics ranging from the elected officials’ salaries to how they’d try to curb spending in a county with a $9 annual billion budget, as they sought to make distinctions in their race for one of the region’s most powerful jobs.
The candidates debated for more than an hour in front of the region’s political movers and shakers at an Orlando event held by Tiger Bay Club of Central Florida, moderated by WESH-2’s Greg Fox and Nancy Alvarez.
The non-partisan race features three Democrats – Clerk of Courts Tiffany Moore Russell, former Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy and County Commissioner Mayra Uribe – as well as one Republican, entrepreneur Chris Messina.
While their exchanges were mostly cordial, an argument broke out on a question about the county’s growing budget which in recent years has included spikes in salary for the mayor and Board of County Commissioners.
“What I find kind of curious is that the commission, despite the tremendous growth in the budget, when it comes to finding money for roads, schools or housing, there’s never enough money,” Murphy said. “And yet, in that period of time … they’ve found money to give themselves pay raises. So as somebody who is running for Orange County Mayor, I’ll commit to not accepting a pay raise as mayor.”
In 2023, the board voted to switch from a county formula to a state formula to determine their salaries, resulting in a nearly 25% pay increase. Uribe, who voted in favor of it at the time, defended her vote Friday as bringing the board’s pay in line with smaller neighboring counties.
“We want people to be able to do the job and be able to live,” she said. “All we did was follow the state charter and get us to what Osceola, Seminole and most counties across Florida are paying their elected officials.”
Orange County mayoral candidates, from left, Chris Messina, Stephanie Murphy, Tiffany Moore Russell and Mayra Uribe participate in a debate hosted by the Tiger Bay Club of Central Florida on Friday, July 31, 2026, at the Orlando Regional Realtor Association headquarters in Orlando. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
Prior to that vote, Orange commissioners were paid $91,158 annually and the mayor’s salary was $182,860. But since then, including smaller increases in the years since, commissioners’ annual pay has risen to $130,263 and the Mayor is paid $261,209.
Further jousting came later when the panel was asked about how they would improve the local landscape for small businesses.
Moore Russell, a former commissioner, said she’d hire a consulting firm to analyze processes and recommend changes, which Uribe contended was unnecessary and would only slow down a needed overhaul.
“We don’t need a consultant to tell us what we’re doing wrong,” said Uribe, who vowed to get the zoning department under control within her first 100 days. “We’ve got to break that system, it’s got to be immediate…it will be the first thing we do.”
She’s blamed zoning and permitting delays for slowing down business openings and growth and raising the price of housing.
Moore Russell contended that Uribe’s strategy wasn’t realistic.
“I’ve always been taught that vision must match reality,” she said. “I don’t know anyone who can change an organization like Orange County within 100 days.”
Discussing another hot-button issue, only Messina said he intended to support Amendment 3, the November ballot initiative that if approved by voters would begin a rollback of property taxes statewide. It would create a $150,000 homestead exemption in 2027 and a $250,000 homestead exemption the following year.
Local officials across the state have warned the lost revenue would lead to slashes to local services.
Messina said that if he’s elected he intends to pursue a forensic audit his first week on the job that would target programs he deems wasteful or fraudulent. He said with a budget as large as the county’s, larger than many states, cuts shouldn’t be hard to find.
“How many of you have not had to tighten your budgets?” he asked.
He later said that if the effort finds significant savings, in future years he’d commit to collecting tax revenue at the rolled-back rate, the property tax rate that allows a government to receive the same amount of money as the year prior. Typically, even if governments don’t raise the overall rate, tax bills go up due to rising property values.
The other three candidates agreed that county spending needed to be curbed regardless whether the amendment reaches the needed 60% approval by Florida voters to pass.
“When we have a county budget that has grown by over $4 billion over the past 8 years, being able to find 2 to 3% of efficiencies shouldn’t be hard,” Murphy said.
If no one candidate receives 50% of the vote on Aug. 18, the top two finishers will advance to a runoff in November. The winner will be sworn in in December.