For decades, candidates for Orange County mayor have described plans to lure high-wage jobs to the region and boost wages in tourism-dominated Central Florida.
The four candidates seeking the region’s most powerful office in 2026 are no different in their emphasis on the region’s economy – with ideas ranging from embracing space and technology sectors to launching a military service academy and even subsidizing trade school for anybody who wants to apply.
Chris Messina, Tiffany Moore Russell, Stephanie Murphy and Mayra Uribe will face off in the Aug. 18 primary, and the top two finishers if no one receives 50% of the vote will then compete in a Nov. 2 run-off.
The economy of the county they hope to run remains dominated by tourism – and in that respect, business is booming. Nearly 77 million people visited here last year – a record, according to Visit Orlando – and the county’s Tourist Development Tax collection is on track to soar past $400 million this fiscal year for the first time ever if its current pace continues.
But the dominance of that industry also leads to a proliferation of low-wage jobs keeping hotels clean, restaurants humming and theme parks bustling. Of the 50 largest metros nationwide, Orlando is 49th in median annual wage at $45,410, federal statistics show.
Yet Central Florida is also an expensive place to live. That leaves 61% of renters and 40% of all households in the metro area spanning Sanford to Kissimmee “cost-burdened,” meaning they spend more than 30% of their monthly income on rent and utilities.
The four candidates all said they want to attract more tech-based companies in defense, modeling and simulation and other similar fields.
Messina, an entrepreneur and the lone Republican in the race, said Orange County should capitalize on its proximity to Kennedy Space Center and strive to be the nation’s space tech capital. The centerpiece of his plan is to try to create a military service academy for the United States Space Force, which he believes would bring at least $1 billion in economic activity.
He and Murphy also had similar ideas to subsidize trade school for young people.
Messina calls his idea “Orange County Works,” where anybody aged 16 years old through midlife can receive a taxpayer funded certification for careers such as plumbing, electrician, HVAC and other trades. Once a person begins working, a clock starts for the graduate to pay back half of the cost of education.
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)
“So you have skin in the game, but not at a level where it’s super onerous,” he said, adding the county could fund the idea with $10 million annually.
Murphy, a former Democratic member of Congress, is calling her proposal “Orange County Promise,” a $27 million annual county investment to pay for every high school graduate to receive an associates degree or a certification from trade or technical school.
“It’s an investment that we can’t afford not to make,” she said. “It creates a reason for businesses to come here, and we have an incredible education ecosystem and we currently have a workforce shortage in some of the trades and technical areas.”
Murphy, who prior to her Congressional tenure worked at the Department of Defense as a national security specialist and is a board member of the RAND Corporation think tank, believes Orange County is positioned to be a leader in space-based missile defense.
She said the county needs to continue to support tourism, but must be ready to create high-wage jobs attractive to young people or risk “having a county where our young people can’t build their future and start their families.”
Moore Russell said that not only does the county need to lure higher-wage jobs, but it also needs to retain companies who are already here. The county mayor, she said, should be intimately involved in recruitment.
She said the county should increase its investments in workforce development, as well as create internship and apprenticeship opportunities.
As the incumbent Clerk of Courts, Moore Russell raised the minimum salary in her office from $12 per hour to $17 an hour. She said she’d conduct a review of the county’s customer service and field employees to ensure they make fair wages.
She’s also said she’ll support incentives for companies who agree to hire locally.
“What I think is happening economically, is that a segment of our community is behind on prosperity,” she said. “We’re not paying people enough to live and not have 2-3 jobs in this county.”
Uribe, an incumbent county commissioner, said she’d be more proactive in pursuing economic development by creating a new department focused on recruiting technology, manufacturing and other industries that typically pay salaries of more than $80,000.
She has also repeatedly said that county zoning, permitting and development review processes are broken and she’d seek to fix them within her first 100 days.
She intends to create a position called the “Director of Mayor’s Initiatives” to ensure applications that would help businesses grow are swiftly moved through the process.
Uribe added that businesses with revenues between $2 million and $25 million don’t get enough county support.
“That middle business is the one that’s going to hire people, the one that’s going to grow and normally is locally headquartered here,” she said. “We’re going to prioritize them.”