Politics
Quinnie Perez becomes Florida’s first openly transgender elected official, Equality Florida says
A newly elected official on an obscure board made history in Tuesday’s election.
Quinnie Perez, 32, became the first openly transgender elected official in Florida as she won a seat on the Orange County Soil and Water Conservation District Board, according to Equality Florida.
“In a state whose right wing politicians have built their brands by trying to bully transgender people out of public life, Quinnie Perez’s election is a defiant declaration that we deserve better. She shattered a ceiling and is paving the way for other transgender leaders to continue to rise,” said Stratton Pollitzer, Equality Florida’s CEO and Executive Director.
“Quinnie’s election is part of writing a new chapter in Florida: one where our leadership reflects the people they serve and our communities are squarely at the table.”
Perez said she was still in shock after her Election Night win. She received more than 35,500 votes to capture nearly 43% of the vote in a three-way race for Seat 1, almost 6 points ahead of runner-up Doug Sahr and more than double the share of third-place finisher Vicente Rafael Pérez Carreño.
“We won in one of Orange County’s most conservative parts,” Perez said. “I’m pretty happy with myself.”
Perez said she was motivated to run for public office after a low moment two days before the 2024 election. A man bullied her at the gym, belittling her appearance.
“When that happened, I got a little depressed,” Perez said. “Ultimately I told myself, ‘I’ve always been an advocate for people, so I need to be an advocate for myself.’ … It was my way of claiming back myself.”
Perez works cultivating and harvesting in the medical marijuana business and has been a farmworker advocate since growing up in Ocala as the daughter of Mexican farmworkers.
“So when the opportunity arose, I told myself, like, well, this is something I’m qualified for and I think I could be successful,” Perez said about running for the Board, which the Winter Park Voice described as having no budget and no power. Its elected members aren’t paid.
“When it comes to civic and government jobs, the soil and water board is as humble as it gets,” the Voice reported.
Perez campaigned on something bigger. Knocking on doors or attending community events, she spoke out against big data centers and warned about their environmental impacts. She talked about flooding in the community and Orange County’s rapid population growth.
“The way I saw it, I was advocating for environmental issues that are front and center in our Legislature and in our county,” Perez said. “I see myself as a helping hand and also somebody who can work with these people on some of these local environmental issues.”
Perez has been politically active lobbying for immigration reform, LGBTQ+ issues and education statewide and nationally as well as working with Orlando Democrats and Equality Florida.
“That’s always been something that I am naturally drawn to doing. I like fighting for the little people,” Perez said.
Running for public office, she built on existing coalitions, met with voter groups and picked up endorsements.
People were cordial when she encountered strangers on the campaign trail. Nobody treated her cruelly because she is a transgender woman — like that day in the gym, she said.
“I always just brought it back to policy, like what was going on in the county, and people respected that,” Perez said.
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