Orange County Democratic Party Chair is running for HD 43

At 28 years old, Orange County Democratic Party Chair Samuel Vilchez Santiago has led the party for three years and helped flip seven local seats, delivering big wins for Democrats.

Now, Vilchez Santiago says he’s ready for his next challenge as he runs for state House this year.

Vilchez Santiago is seeking to take over Rep. Johanna López’s seat in House District 43. She is not seeking re-election and is running for Orange County Commission instead.

“All the work that we’ve been doing out in the community to win elections and to shape local politics will obviously come in handy as we get to this state House race,” Vilchez Santiago told Florida Politics ahead of a Tuesday morning press conference with López.

“We built a very powerful movement here in Orange County. We have recruited, trained and deployed over 2,000 volunteers. We have raised close to a million dollars. And we have knocked on almost half a million doors.”

Fighting to go to Tallahassee, Vilchez Santiago said he is utilizing his strength as a local organizer and will knock on voters’ doors “almost every single day.” 

“What matters the most is that we are talking directly to voters to address their concerns and make sure that we’re showing up for communities,” he said, adding that he plans to campaign with López.

The two Democrats have a long history together. López was Vilchez Santiago’s teacher in high school. In his senior year, they registered 500 students to vote.

Vilchez Santiago worked as López’s Campaign Manager for her historic run to become the first Latina member of the Orange County School Board in 2018. Then, López served as Vilchez Santiago’s Campaign Manager in 2020 when he lost a House District 48 race, the only other time he has run for public office. The Orlando Sentinel, which endorsed him at the time, said he could become a “rising star.”

López urged Vilchez Santiago to run this year for HD 43, her old seat in an area that covers eastern Orange County north of Lake Nona and south of Colonial Drive. Vilchez Santiago lives in the Pinewood Reserve subdivision.

For his House run, Vilchez Santiago took a leave of absence effective Jan. 1 from chairing the Orange County Democrats. Jarred Cornell, the local party’s membership Chair who works as the legislative aide for Orange County Commissioner Kelly Martinez Semrad, was elected as Orange County Democrats’ interim Chair to fulfill Vilchez Santiago’s term that expires in December.

Immigration is one of the biggest issues drawing Vilchez Santiago into the race. It’s an issue that’s deeply personal.

Vilchez Santiago moved to Florida in eighth grade as a political refugee from Venezuela. His parents, who were small-business owners, had been political activists for the local opposition party. Paramilitary pro-regime militias began following them, forcing the family to flee to the United States, Vilchez Santiago said.

He arrived not knowing any English. By the time he graduated high school, he was the valedictorian and won a full-ride scholarship to Princeton University, where he majored in political science and then returned to Central Florida. Vilchez Santiago works as a senior manager for the nonprofit portfolio at ActBlue, the Democratic fundraising group.

“This community believed in me. There were teachers and people outside of my family who didn’t have to be there that were there for me,” said Vilchez Santiago, who became a U.S. citizen in 2016. “That is what the American dream is about.”

But Vilchez Santiago expressed frustrations, saying he knows how lucky he is. Many people who applied for political asylum have waited for more than a decade to get a hearing in their case, he said.

“We’re denigrating the immigrants that have actually helped build this economy and build this community,” he added.

“What has happened over the last year is that in Florida, over one million people that were here legally under temporary protection are now no longer documented because this administration has made them undocumented. This is an issue that impacts our local businesses and our local communities.”

Immigration is typically a federal issue, but Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration has transformed it into a state and local one by deputizing local law enforcement to help the federal government carry out mass deportations, Vilchez Santiago said.

The affordability crisis, better funding for transportation and public education are among his other priorities.