ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 Jerry Demings\u2019 story in Orlando is a series of \u201cfirsts.\u201d<\/p>\n
The first Black Orlando police chief.<\/p>\n
The first Black Orange County sheriff.<\/p>\n
The first Black Orange County mayor.<\/p>\n
Now he will try to add another first to his biography: Florida\u2019s first Black governor.<\/p>\n
Known for his deep voice and slow-paced cadence, the 66-year-old Orlando native is a pragmatic powerhouse politician in Central Florida. Outside of the region, however, he will have a lot of work to do to increase his visibility.<\/p>\n
[WATCH: Demings\u2019 gubernatorial announcement]<\/p>\n
Lifetime in law enforcement<\/p>\n
Demings was one of Orlando\u2019s top cops for years, but that wasn\u2019t his original career path. <\/p>\n
Demings graduated from Florida State University with a degree in finance and returned to Orlando to work as an accountant.<\/p>\n
In an interview with the Florida Historical Society<\/a> earlier this year, Demings said he began to think about law enforcement when the federal government started recruiting people to handle white collar crimes.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile I was pursuing perhaps a career as a federal law enforcement officer, one of the recruiters suggested that I get some local law enforcement experience,\u201d Demings said. \u201cHence, I listened to the recruiter. I applied to the Orlando Police Department and, I intended, if they would hire me, to only stay one year. The federal government had gone into a hiring freeze. I was optimistic that after the hiring freeze, I would be selected. I had the opportunity where I was selected, but I chose to continue my career with the Orlando Police Department for a multitude of reasons, but I stayed. I was working in my hometown community, and I had the opportunity to move up and rank fairly quickly within the agency.\u201d<\/p>\n Demings went through police academy and worked his way up to OPD deputy chief. Then, in 1998, Mayor Glenda Hood appointed him the city\u2019s first Black police chief.<\/p>\n Demings held that role until 2002, when he became Orange County\u2019s director of public safety under Mayor Richard Crotty.<\/p>\n In 2008, Demings ran his first political campaign for Orange County sheriff. Demings, the Democrat, beat Republican challenger John Tegg with 55% of the vote.<\/p>\n [WATCH: Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings discusses homeland security]<\/p>\n Demings was reelected sheriff in 2012 and 2016, presiding over the agency during investigations that drew national attention, like the Casey Anthony case and the Pulse Nightclub shooting.<\/p>\n During his time as sheriff, Demings expanded agency substations throughout the county. He also supported efforts to install red light cameras at major intersections.<\/p>\n Records show some reduction in crime, particularly property crime, during his time in office.<\/p>\n Power couple<\/p>\n While in OPD, Demings met and married his wife, Val. She would go on to become an Orlando police chief as well, and Orlando\u2019s representative in Congress. <\/p>\n The couple\u2019s power dynamic did not go unnoticed, even nationally. <\/p>\n They have three sons and five grandchildren.<\/p>\n Taking on DeSantis<\/p>\n Demings became Orange County\u2019s first Black mayor in 2018, and was reelected in 2022. <\/p>\n As mayor, Demings\u2019 lo-fi public persona was on full display in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, as he and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer conducted daily updates. <\/p>\n The pandemic was the first in a series of major clashes with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, as DeSantis sought to reopen the state and stop vaccine, mask and social distancing mandates.<\/p>\n [WATCH: Orange County mayor signs order to fine businesses for COVID-19 violations (from 2020)]<\/p>\n Demings tried to require all county employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine in 2021, defying DeSantis.<\/p>\n Demings also accused the governor of not supporting local governments trying to manage testing and vaccination sites.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are doing the best that we could do to take care of our residents during this current surge, just like we have been doing throughout this pandemic,\u201d Demings said at the time.<\/a> \u201cOur residents, all Florida residents, should be outraged and they should ask the question \u2014 Now, where\u2019s our state? Where\u2019s our governor? Where is Ron DeSantis now?\u201d<\/p>\n The public conflict between Demings and DeSantis increased this year.<\/p>\n Amid the state\u2019s crackdown on illegal immigration, county governments were forced to sign agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to allow detainees to be held in the local jails until they could be transferred.<\/p>\n [WATCH: Orange County mayor pushes back on Florida attorney general\u2019s demands]<\/p>\n Despite outrage from county commissioners and the immigration community, Demings signed the agreement<\/a>, citing threats of lost federal funding and DeSantis\u2019 threat to remove defiant officials from office.<\/p>\n Later in the year, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier demanded the county<\/a> agree to transport detainees to ICE facilities. DeSantis suggested he would have suspended Demings if he didn\u2019t sign the new deal.<\/p>\n Demings accused the state of bullying law enforcement and local governments. <\/p>\n \u201cI find it somewhat ironic, that the 37-year-old attorney general is attacking me personally, attacking our board,\u201d Demings said. \u201cI spent more years on the streets of Florida, patrolling our streets as a law enforcement officer than he\u2019s been alive.\u201d<\/p>\n At the same time, the state initiated a DOGE audit of the county\u2019s finances, which Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia said revealed the county had overtaxed residents by $190 million.<\/p>\n Demings, however, questioned not only the way the audit was conducted, but also the data Ingoglia was using. <\/a>Ingoglia also accused county workers of hiding information. An investigation is ongoing.<\/p>\n \u201cThis whole process has been tainted at this point, because they\u2019ve already tried and convicted Orange County before they\u2019ve ever completed their investigation,\u201d Demings said. \u201cWhen that happens, you know this is politically motivated. Something else is motivating that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf the state really cared about us here at the local level, they will sit down and talk to us like decent folk would do, rather than issue subpoenas. They could just simply come and have a conversation with us. No, they wanted to be heavy-handed. They want us to perform before the cameras,” he also said.<\/p>\n [WATCH: Orange county mayor defends staff in DOGE audit, calls Florida investigation \u2018politically motivated\u2019]<\/p>\n Problem solving<\/p>\n Demings has appointed a slew of task forces over the years to try to deal with the county\u2019s major issues, from mental health to citizens safety<\/a> to affordable housing. <\/p>\n To deal with the latter issue, he launched the Housing for All initiative<\/a> to try to get more affordable housing built, along with a county trust fund. <\/p>\n According to the county, the initiative created 4,957 affordable units, with $58 million.<\/p>\n