Here are the Top 10 political stories from Central Florida in 2025

This year, Central Florida featured political fights over rainbows and residents saying goodbye to a legend who dedicated her life to helping lift up Orlando.

Those were some of the biggest stories in the region as we look back on the headlines that defined the news cycle in 2025.

Color War

When the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) paved over the rainbow crosswalk outside the Pulse nightclub in the middle of the night this Summer, it sparked a massive outcry from the public.

The rainbow crosswalk honored the 49 victims of the 2016 mass shooting at the LGBTQ+ club, but the city of Orlando also argued the bright paint kept pedestrians safer crossing the street.

“This callous action of hastily removing part of a memorial to what was at the time our nation’s largest mass shooting, without any supporting safety data or discussion, is a cruel political act,” Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said in a statement.

The state’s crackdown led to advocates decorating the street with chalk and a flurry of rainbow flags to appear in neighborhoods throughout the city. Advocates from other communities sounded off to support Orlando.

Months later, the Orlando Sentinel sued to get records about the state’s decision to remove the crosswalk.

Joining the Race

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings officially joined the race to replace term-limited Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Demings announced his candidacy during a November rally in Orlando’s tourism corridor.

“This is not a right or left moment, but a right or wrong moment in our history. The power of the people is greater than the people in power,” said Demings, who has been pushing back against DeSantis throughout 2025.

Demings, the former Orange County Sheriff, retorted, “It’s time for a new sheriff in town.”

As a Democrat, Demings faces a tough challenge to win the Governor’s mansion and beat Republicans, who are polling higher. First, of course, Demings must also win the Democratic Primary against his biggest opponent: former U.S. Rep. David Jolly.

But Demings is making the case that he has the experience leading the county through the pandemic, hurricanes and the Pulse mass shooting.

In Memoriam

At age 76, Sen. Geraldine Thompson died unexpectedly in February from knee surgery complications.

With her no-nonsense attitude, fierce motivational drive and a flair for colorful scarves, Thompson was a lion in the Legislature, advocating for Orlando for decades.

Even before she was elected into office, Thompson was a civil rights leader. She organized Black history bus tours in Orlando, wrote a book about Orlando’s African American community, hosted Juneteenth events, and was involved in the efforts of creating Orlando’s first Martin Luther King Jr. celebrations. Her biggest sense of pride was the Wells’Built Museum of African American History and Culture.

To honor her, the street by her museum in downtown Orlando was renamed “Senator Geraldine F. Thompson Way” in December.

On the Rise

Thompson’s death left her Senate seat open, which set off a chain of Special Elections.

Rep. LaVon Bracy Davis won a Special Election in September to fill the rest of Thompson’s term in Senate District 15. In her move to the upper chamber, Bracy Davis beat her brother, former state Sen. Randolph Bracy, as well as former U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson in a Democratic Primary.

Bracy Davis’ ascent freed up the House District 40 seat. Bracy Davis’ Chief of Staff, RaShon Young, won his Special Election to represent his boss’s old district.

To read more about the special bond between Bracy Davis and Young, pick up a print copy of “In Session” when the Legislature reconvenes.

Immigration fight

Orange County, a bright blue part of Florida, was continuously in the crossfire of the DeSantis administration in 2025.

One of the most heated fights was about immigration and whether Orange County should be required to transport immigration detainees as far away as Alligator Alcatraz in South Florida.

Local officials argued their jail is chronically understaffed, making it dangerous to divert corrections officers on the road to handle the federal government’s immigration responsibilities.

The state rejected that argument. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier went as far as threatening to have Demings and County Commissioners removed if they did not approve a federal immigration contract addendum.

Under pressure, Demings reluctantly signed the deal.

“Yes, I signed the damn thing because we really had to. We were put in a tough spot. I can’t let our entire Board of County Commissioners and myself be removed from office,” Demings said in August, adding that he worried DeSantis would “insert his minions” into the county.

Immigration wasn’t the only contentious issue between state Republicans and Orange County Democrats.

Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia brought his traveling Florida Department of Government Efficiency press conference to Orlando too, calling out Orange County’s spending.

Demings called the CFO’s math “fuzzy” and defended the county’s budget.

Chapin vs. Tanna

In a neck-in-neck race, Roger Chapin beat Mira Tanna in the Dec. 9 runoff to be the first new Orlando City Commissioner for District 3 in 20 years. Chapin won by only 201 votes.

The runoff was needed because Chapin and Tana had been separated by a mere 14 votes out of a field of five candidates in the November General Election.

Chapin had the bigger political war chest and the better name recognition as the son of former Orange County Mayor Linda Chapin. However, Tanna ran an impressive grassroots campaign and won the support of progressive Democrats, including U.S. Rep Maxwell Frost and Rep. Anna Eskamani.

Other Orlando city races

The rest of Orlando’s City Council races also contained some compelling storylines.

Underdog former Rep. Tom Keen knocked off Jim Gray, the better-funded incumbent, to win Orlando’s District 1 race. Gray was first elected in 2012.

The nonpartisan race got more partisan when the GOP sent mailers that called Keen a “liberal extremist” and reminded voters that Gray was “the last Republican standing.”

Perhaps the mailers backfired, as the district leans blue. Keen is a Democrat and Gray is a Republican.

And the District 5 race was also full of drama.

Interim Orlando City Commissioner Shan Rose won re-election by shutting down Regina Hill’s comeback bid and beating late challenger Lawanna Gelzer.

Hill was trying to regain her old seat after DeSantis suspended her from office in 2024 after she was arrested on elderly exploitation and fraud charges.

Hill and Rose traded barbs. Hill even filed a post-election lawsuit to argue Rose’s win should be voided.

New maps

After voters approved expanding the Orange County Commission, an advisory board drew new boundary lines, which brought passionate residents and local leaders to give their feedback.

The biggest question in the long redistricting process was: What happens to Winter Park?

Winter Park officials argued they should be in the same district as their urban neighbors of Maitland and Eatonville instead of remaining in the rural east.

“Our communities are already collaborating in drainage and lake management, transportation planning, and public safety initiatives. These are all regional challenges and demand a unified voice at the county level,” Winter Park City Commissioner Craig Russell said at a public meeting.

But others feared Winter Park would disenfranchise the unincorporated Pine Hills.

After hours of public testimony and meetings for months during the redistricting process, the Orange County Commission, which had final approval, decided to keep Winter Park with the rural area and denied the Winter Park City Council’s request.

TDT push

For years, some local officials have said they wished they could dip into the hotel tax proceeds to pay for things like more buses, nighttime SunRail service or police protection.

That tourist development tax (TDT) reform almost happened.

Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith’s proposal to free up Orange County’s hotel tax money for public transportation and other needs was inserted into a larger Senate tax bill in the 2025 Legislative Session.

It narrowly failed to cross the finish line. Smith said his proposal was removed on the final day of budget talks.

Smith has filed five new bills for the 2026 Session as he keeps pushing for changes on TDT, which is Orange County’s 6% hotel surcharge.

Ethic concerns

In 2025, Florida Politics dug deeper into the Orange County Supervisor of Elections’ Office and found that DeSantis-appointee Glen Gilzean threw himself a $16,500 swearing-in ceremony in 2024. The ceremony’s tab was covered by the Orlando Regional Realtor Association, which one expert said raised ethical questions.

“It’s very rare that people in and around the government give gifts purely out of the goodness of gift-giving,” Richard Briffault, a Columbia Law School professor who specializes in government ethics, told FP when the story published in May based on new records released after Gilzean’s tenure had ended. 

A few months after the swearing-in ceremony, Gilzean wrote a $45,000 grant check to the Realtor Association’s foundation, which Republican Rep. Susan Plasencia runs.

The Realtor Association returned $45,000 after Gilzean left office.

The story deepened, according to a FP investigation.

Realtor Association CEO Cliff Long, who gave opening remarks at Gilzean’s swearing-in ceremony, had previously been investigated for writing messages that suggested he was soliciting prostitutes on a work trip in Panama in 2020.

The Realtor Association said in a statement to the story, “The matter in question was investigated and closed four years ago with no findings of any illegal activity. Mr. Long continues to work tirelessly on behalf of ORRA’s members, homebuyers and sellers.”