Politics
Clerk vs. CEO: Tiffany Moore Russell, Chris Messina compete to succeed Jerry Demings
Orange County voters will be deciding their next Mayor — the first new face in eight years — during the Nov. 3 election.
Democrat Tiffany Moore Russell and Republican Chris Messina are competing to replace current Mayor Jerry Demings, who is term-limited after taking office in 2018. The nonpartisan job pays $271,658 for the 2027 fiscal year.
Moore Russell and Messina both advanced from the Primary by surpassing two Democrats, former U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy and Orange County Commissioner Mayra Uribe. Neither Moore Russell nor Messina won a majority of the vote, setting up next month’s runoff to lead a government with a $9 billion budget serving 1.5 million residents.
Messina is the underdog since Orange County is solidly blue.
Democrats dominate, with about 320,000 registered Democrats. There are more voters registered with no party affiliation (about 238,000) than Republicans (nearly 228,000).
Moore Russell has won countywide office before. A lawyer, she has served as Orange County Clerk of Courts since 2014.
The Orlando native broke barriers for her age, her gender and her race in her political career spanning two decades. She became the youngest person ever elected to the Orange County Commission when she won the District 6 seat in 2006 and the first sitting County Commissioner to have a baby in office.
Her 2014 election as Clerk of Courts — an office lacking the glamour of other elected positions but nonetheless important to those accessing the courts for marriage licenses, domestic violence protective orders and other matters — made her the first Black woman elected Clerk in Florida.
Now Moore Russell aims to be the first Black woman to lead as County Mayor.
But first, she must beat Messina, who prides himself on running a lean campaign.
Messina has never held elected office, a gap on his résumé that he touts as an advantage.
“I’m a business guy — not a politician,” Messina said during a recent Spectrum News 13 televised debate.
Messina, who has an MBA from Harvard University, ran several health tech companies.
Moore Russell raised more than $830,000 between her campaign and her Central Florida Leadership political committee, with nearly $220,000 remaining heading into Election Day, according to their most recent numbers. With his campaign and his Team Messina political committee, Messina has raised nearly $250,000 with nearly $43,000 left.
Throughout the campaign, the two candidates debated issues from Amendment 3 to how to improve affordable housing and public transportation.
One of the biggest differences between the candidates is that Messina supports Amendment 3, the constitutional amendment on the November ballot proposing to increase the state’s non-school homestead exemptions to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028.
Messina argued the county needs to cut spending by reducing its real estate portfolio and axing “redundant programs.”
“We’re going to eliminate this kind of waste so that we can allow our hardworking taxpayers to keep more of their money,” Messina said during the TV debate. “It’s very important that Amendment 3, in my opinion, pass and that we exercise fiscal discipline in county government.”
Moore Russell opposes it, noting that property taxes pay for public safety, roads, parks, libraries and other important services.
“I would vote ‘no’ on the constitutional amendment to reduce property taxes because I believe it will hinder local governments from providing quality services uniquely designed for that community,” Moore Russell wrote in the Orlando Sentinel voter guide.
The candidates clashed on whether, as County Mayor, they would have supported a 4% salary increase for Commissioners.
Moore Russell said the cost of living has risen, so Commissioners deserve a raise.
Messina was opposed. “I think this job should be one that you really do for love of your community,” he said.
A growing number of local officials are lobbying to update state law so Orange County can free up how it spends the 6% hotel tax — known as the tourist development tax, or TDT — beyond funding Visit Orlando, tourism ads and capital projects or events to draw more tourists.
Moore Russell said she supports freeing up TDT for transportation projects like SunRail or Brightline and building affordable housing for tourism workers.
“How do we connect Brightline over to the convention center and over to the theme parks? I’m wholly supportive of using those dollars to move our visitors to our major destinations,” Moore Russell said during the Spectrum News debate.
“We also want to get those who are on I-Drive to downtown Orlando to go to a Magic game or to go to an Orlando City soccer match or see a show at the (Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts). We need robust transportation to allow those visitors to be able to enjoy those amenities as well.”
Messina said he favors keeping TDT spending as is. He alluded to the most recent TDT revenue numbers released this month that show a 3% decline.
“We have to be careful not to kill the golden goose because it’s tourism that put Orange County on the map. Without tourism, Orange County would be a collection of citrus groves,” Messina said.
“I’m not in favor of using it for housing. I would only be in favor of using it for dedicated transportation between, let’s say, the airport and the convention center or major hotels, something that both tourists and our residents can specifically benefit from while protecting our investment in tourism.”
Both candidates support a county moratorium on building new data centers and the county giving $5 million to the city of Orlando to help build the Pulse shooting memorial.
Florida Politics also has full profiles of Moore Russell and Messina.
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