Victoria Siplin edges closer to Orange County Commission race

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The Orlando Sentinel reports that the wife of former state Sen. Gary Siplin has taken the first steps in entering the race for Orange County Commissioner.

Victoria Siplin opened a campaign account for the seat in Orange County District 6, where voting-age blacks make up 52 percent of the voters.  Term-limited Tiffany Moore Russell currently holds the overwhelmingly Democratic seat.

Siplin had already run unsuccessfully for her husband’s Orlando-area Senate seat, after he was term-limited.  She lost the Democratic primary to Sen. Geraldine Thompson of Orlando, who went on to win the general election.

Siplin is a popular name in Orange County politics. Former Sen. Siplin made his name with a bill to prohibit “droopy drawers.”

This popularity could help Ms. Siplin, who will come into an increasingly crowded race: Joshua Nathan Paladino, Derrick Donnell Wallace and Virginia Lewis Whittington all formally entered the contest, with former Commissioner Homer Hartage also expressing interest.

Peter Schorsch is the President of Extensive Enterprises and is the publisher of some of Florida’s most influential new media websites, including SaintPetersBlog.com, FloridaPolitics.com, ContextFlorida.com, and Sunburn, the morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics. SaintPetersBlog has for three years running been ranked by the Washington Post as the best state-based blog in Florida. In addition to his publishing efforts, Peter is a political consultant to several of the state’s largest governmental affairs and public relations firms. Peter lives in St. Petersburg with his wife, Michelle, and their daughter, Ella.