Former Orlando Police Chief Val Demings will officially launch her campaign to unseat incumbent Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs on Thursday.
The official kick-off event will be 3 p.m. January 9, at Lake Eola Park in Orlando.
“For months, I’ve been asked by countless citizens to run for Orange County Mayor,” Demings said in a statement released today. “They want a leader who will stand up for them.”
Like many of them, I too, have grown disappointed with the forgotten promises of the current administration,” she added. “That’s why I’m running for Mayor.”
Democrat Demings, who lost a close congressional race to U.S. Rep. Daniel Webster in 2012, feels Jacobs did not deliver on past promises for running an ethical government.
“It’s about giving people an opportunity to participate,” Demings told the Orlando Sentinel. “It’s not about representing the privileged few. It’s about representing everyone who lives and works in Orange County.”
Jacobs, who some say is the most popular GOP Central Florida politician, insists the county government has been open and ethical under her watch. She is anxious to talk to voters about what she’s done in the time she has been in office.
“It means that we’ll have a chance to have a thorough discussion of the issues facing Orange County,” Jacobs said to Sentinel reporter David Damron.
If the former police chief qualifies in June, it could turn into a costly and bitter partisan election battle that might earn national attention.
The Orange County mayoral race is a non-partisan contest in principle, but many expect Demings to court both Democratic voters and donors. With Democrats having a 42 percent to 29 percent registration advantage over Republicans in Orange County, the political landscape has clearly turned blue.
Demings’ newest campaign removes the rumors that she would seek a rematch with Webster, the Winter Garden Republican who defeated her by a 52-48 percent margin for Congressional District 10.
Speculation that Demings will challenge Jacobs began when she characterized a phone conversation between the two just before the 2012 elections:
“She [Demings] said that there wasn’t … I don’t remember the exact quote, but there wasn’t a chance that she would run,” Jacobs related to the Sentinel. “There was absolutely no way that she would run.'”
Demings said she was only restating her intent to run against Webster in 2012.
Jacobs filed for re-election the next month and garnered early endorsements from key business and law enforcement leaders. The incumbent also raised $472,431 so far, while spending $48,860, according to recent reports.
Demings admits she has a fundraising disadvantage, but is confident she can call on her network of congressional supporters, and intends to run a grassroots campaign.
Beating Jacobs may prove to be a challenge. As a two-term commissioner, she defeated Democratic former Commissioner Bill Segal by 68-32 percent in 2010.
In a May survey by Orlando Regional Realtor Association, 63 percent of likely voters view Jacobs favorably, and 55 percent viewed Demings positively.
