![\""homophobic"](\"https:\/\/westorlandonews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/CarlosSmithJimGraymailer2.jpg\")
<\/a>Jim Gray\u2019s \u201chomophobic\u201d mailer asks voters: \u201cWhose side are you on?\u201d \u2013 a very politically divisive statement. It ends by saying: \u201cThe choice is simple: Turn over Orlando to complete Liberal Democrat Control OR Re-elect Jim Gray to the Orlando City Commission.\u201d<\/p>\nThat is a very odd position to take in Orlando, and it is extremely disturbing that Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer has not condemned his friend and political ally on the City Council. Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, supposedly still a Democrat, has endorsed Jim Gray for City Commissioner repeatedly over the years.<\/p>\n
The mailer took aim at Anna Eskamani who is running to replace Buddy Dyer as Mayor in 2027, calling her a \u201cradical socialist.\u201d Wow, Commissioner Gray \u2013 those are definitely fighting words. Jim Gray called the Rainbow Democrats an \u201cLGBTQIA_ Democratic Party advocate,\u201d and labeled Equality Florida as a \u201cleft-wing PAC.\u201d Jim Gray also attacked his constituent, calling Carlos Smith \u201canti-DeSantis\/anti-Trump\u201d \u2013 so voters can assume Jim Gray is a pro-DeSantis and pro-Trump member of the Orlando City Council.<\/p>\n
\u201cI DO NOT appreciate this homophobic mailer \u2018approved by Jim Gray for Orlando City Commission.\u2019 The targeting of Rainbow Dems, Equality Florida, Rep. Eskamani in a cute rainbow dress, and me\u2014 your elected State Senator who just happens to be LGBTQ\u2014 is no coincidence,\u201d State Senator Carlos Guillermo Smith posted in response to Jim Gray\u2019s mailer. \u201cThis desperate and clearly bigoted dog whistle is not okay. We deserve better. As a constituent of Jim Gray\u2019s, I\u2019M VOTING FOR TOM KEEN!\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked about Commissioner Jim Gray\u2019s political attacks, City of Orlando spokesperson Ashley Papagni said Mayor Buddy Dyer was \u201cnot in the office\u201d so he was unavailable to respond prior to publication. Dyer endorsed Jim Gray again. She declined to state if those political attacks on Eskamani, Carlos Smith and the LGBTQ community were inappropriate. I guess we now know how Mayor Buddy Dyer really feels about other Orlando Democrats and his possible successor, Eskamani. City Commissioner Tony Ortiz also endorsed Gray, showing he is no \u201cDemocrat\u201d even though he declared he left the GOP and joined the Democratic Party.<\/p>\n
West Orlando News also reached out to Jim Gray and asked him if he had a response to State Senator Carlos Smith, a constituent, calling his campaign mailer a \u201chomophobic mailer\u201d which Gray approved. Jim Gray did not respond to Smith\u2019s claims that Jim Gray\u2019s attack on LGBT+ is \u201d no coincidence\u201d and the mailer was \u201cdesperate\u201d and was a \u201cclearly bigoted dog whistle.\u201d<\/p>\n
The election for the District 1 Orlando City Council is November 4, 2025. District 3 and District 5 will also vote for City Commissioners.<\/p>\n