The August primary election ballot will include a choice of four candidates to represent Orange County Commission District 5, which includes Winter Park. The seat, currently filled by outgoing Commissioner Emily Bonilla, could be decided by a runoff if neither candidate receives at least a 50% plus one majority of the vote.
The candidates are as follows, names link to campaign websites:
- Joy Goff-Marcil: Served as a Maitland City Council member from 2013-2018 and as State House Representative, District 30, from 2018-2022.
- Steve Leary: Elected to Winter Park City Commission in 2011 and served as mayor between 2015-2021.
- Joel Antonio Montilla: Attorney with The Montilla Law Firm and current president of the Puerto Rican Bar Association of Florida, Inc.
- Kelly Semrad: Associate professor at the UCF, Rosen College of Hospitality Management. Also served as District 5 Neighborhood Advisory Council co-chair and as vice-chair of Save Orange County, Inc.
Commission races are nonpartisan and candidates are not identified by party affiliation. According to their websites, each shares priorities that include increasing the availability of affordable housing, protecting rural boundaries and conservation, and fostering economic growth. However, the community will have two opportunities to meet the candidates and hear them speak about issues important to residents.
A District 5 Candidate Forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Orange County will be hosted at Westminster Winter Park, 1111 S. Lakemont Ave. The event is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 6, at 7 p.m. with doors opening at 6:30 p.m. All four candidates have been invited. For more information and access to a recorded broadcast after the event, visit the LWVOC Facebook page.
Winter Park Chamber of Commerce will host a Meet the Candidates event at the Center for Health & Wellbeing, 2005 Mizell Ave. The morning event is scheduled for Friday, Aug. 9, between 8:30-10 a.m. The list of candidates confirmed to attend is updated regularly and currently includes Leary, Semrad, and Montilla, along with candidates running for Florida State House and Senate seats, Orange County School Board District 6, Ninth Judicial Court, and more. Registration information and the list of attendees is available on the Chamber event page.
The full list of 2024 Orange County candidates is available at ocfelections.com along with voting information and all acceptable forms of identification. Early voting locations will be open from August 5 through August 18, 9 a.m.-7 p.m. daily. The list of county-wide early voting locations is available here.