Orange County mayoral race will go to a runoff in November

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. —

The 2026 race for Orange County mayor will go to a runoff election in November after no candidate secured 51% of the vote.

Mayoral candidate Stephanie Murphy, a former U.S. Representative from Florida’s 7th Congressional District, conceded the race before 9 p.m. Tuesday.

The other candidates on Tuesday’s ticket included Chris Messina, a businessman; Tiffany Moore Russell, who’s set to step down as Orange County clerk of court at the end of August; and Mayra Uribe, who announced she would step down as District 3 Orange County commissioner during the first week of December.

At last check, Moore Russell led with 31.77% of the vote while Messina followed at 27.50%.

Murphy had just over 26% of the vote as she conceded.

The runoff will occur alongside the November general election, featuring the top two finishers.

>> See all results at the bottom of this story.

Orange County’s mayor presides over county operations and a more-than $9 billion budget. About 8,400 people work under the mayor’s administration.

The mayor sits as the executive head of the Board of County Commissioners, holding voting power along with other commissioner members.

Whoever wins the November runoff will succeed current Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings, who dropped out of his race for Florida governor after being diagnosed with cancer. Demings’ term will end on Nov. 17.

WESH 2 News Orange County mayor debate

WESH 2 News anchor Stewart Moore and reporter Greg Fox moderated a debate among the candidates for Orange County mayor and asked them about topics affecting Central Florida voters, including affordability, the upcoming property tax bill, their beliefs on tourist development taxes, and more.

>> See all results below:

Orange County mayoral race will go to a runoff in November

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