The race generated attention-grabbing headlines following Regina Hill’s arrest last year.
Interim Orlando City Commissioner Shan Rose won re-election in Tuesday’s election, ruining Regina Hill’s attempt at a comeback after Hill was suspended from office following a felony indictment.
Rose won with 52% of the vote while Hill and Lawanna Gelzer captured nearly 33% and 15%, according to unofficial election results.
The race generated attention-grabbing headlines following Hill’s arrest and pending trial.
Hill was the District 5 Commissioner until Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended her last year after she was arrested on elderly exploitation and fraud charges. She was the subject of an ongoing Orlando Sentinel investigation about her relationship with a woman in her late 90s.
Hill is accused of taking advantage of the woman after gaining power of attorney and then going on a shopping spree. Hill has insisted she is innocent.
After Hill’s suspension, Rose won a Special Election last year to fill the rest of Hill’s term.
Hill and Rose traded verbal attacks. Hill accused Rose of impropriety after Rose notarized a registered sex offender’s request to vacate a conviction involving a preteen girl, the Sentinel reported. Rose argued she was just doing her job as a notary public.
The District 5 race got so ugly, the Sentinel declined to weigh in and endorse any of the three candidates.
“Orlando’s District 5 City Commission race is, to put it bluntly, a mess, and none of the candidates has really made the case that they would be the best choice,” the editorial board said Monday.
The four-year City Commissioner term pays $79,343 annually.
District 5 was one of three contested races to reshape Orlando city government.
Some of the issues in front of the Orlando City Council include funding road improvement projects in busy corridors, modernizing Leu Gardens and adding a children’s garden, and building the Pulse Memorial.
District 5 covers downtown Orlando and other neighborhoods, including Parramore.