{"id":31044,"date":"2025-11-03T10:01:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T10:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/31044\/"},"modified":"2025-11-03T10:01:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T10:01:10","slug":"lawanna-gelzer-regina-hill-and-shan-rose-battle-for-orlandos-district-5-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/31044\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawanna Gelzer, Regina Hill and Shan Rose battle for Orlando’s District 5 race"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Tuesday\u2019s Orlando City Council election, Regina Hill<\/a> is fighting to get back her old seat after Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended her from office last year following her indictment on felony charges<\/a>. Hill says she is innocent.<\/p>\n

But to reclaim the office \u2014 as long as DeSantis doesn\u2019t throw her out again<\/a> \u2014 Hill must beat interim Commissioner Shan Rose<\/a>, who won a Special Election last year for Hill\u2019s remaining term. Rose has outraised Hill with a war chest of more than $45,000. <\/p>\n

Adding to the political drama is a third candidate, community advocate Lawanna Gelzer<\/a>, who jumped into the race late. In two months since filing for office Sept. 9, her mostly self-funded campaign<\/a> brought in more than $38,000.<\/p>\n

Gelzer, Hill, and Rose square off on the ballot Tuesday for Orlando City Council\u2019s District 5<\/a> race, which covers downtown Orlando and several neighborhoods west of Interstate 4, including Parramore<\/p>\n

Early voting ends<\/a> 3 p.m. Sunday. Polls on Election Day open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. If no one wins with more than 50% of the vote, the race will go to a runoff in December.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The District 5 race has gotten heated as candidates traded barbs at a recent forum and on social media.<\/p>\n

Gelzer and Hill debated each other at John H. Jackson Center in Parramore earlier this month. Rose did not attend.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you very much, interim Commissioner Rose, but your services are no longer needed,\u201d Hill said, according to WKMG<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The news station also reported that Gelzer argued for change in the office. \u201cI believe if you continue to give money to something that is failing us, you will get the same results,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Hill continued to maintain her innocence while Gelzer pointed out that the former Commissioner hasn\u2019t faced trial yet.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Hill\u2019s next court hearing is scheduled for Jan. 16 \u2014 months after Tuesday\u2019s election. Hill has pleaded not guilty to several felony charges, including exploitation of an elderly person and scheming to defraud for $50,000 or more.<\/p>\n

Authorities accused Hill of taking advantage of a 96-year-old with dementia and gaining control of the woman\u2019s finances, then allegedly spending that money on a trip to Miami, a facelift and other personal expenses<\/p>\n

When Hill was arrested last Spring, DeSantis suspended her from office<\/a>, saying he normally kicks out elected officials who have been charged with a felony.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor municipal officials it\u2019s that criminal indictment that triggers that,\u201d DeSantis said at a press conference at the time.<\/p>\n

Rose emerged the victor from a field of seven candidates last year to win the Special Election to replace Hill.<\/p>\n

Hill has argued the community cares less about her legal problems and more about other pressing issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey know I\u2019m a proven leader,\u201d she told the media.<\/p>\n

The three women listed their priorities, if elected, to the Orlando Sentinel<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hill, who worked as a nurse, said she wants to increase housing, give skills training to the homeless to find work, and support small businesses.<\/p>\n

Rose said she is focused on lowering crime, creating more high-paying jobs and also creating more affordable housing. She is a former Orlando city planner who runs a nonprofit providing social services in neighborhoods.<\/p>\n

Gelzer, co-owner of the Peabo Childcare Center, wants to improve infrastructure and public transportation as well as monitor the air quality and help residents prepare to deal with climate change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In Tuesday\u2019s Orlando City Council election, Regina Hill is fighting to get back her old seat after Gov.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31045,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[8716,139,8718,141,140,6643,7889],"class_list":["post-31044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-lawanna-gelzer","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-city-council-district-5","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-regina-hill","tag-shan-rose"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31044\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}