Florida Values Voter Guide
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Orange County · Orlando metro · November 3, 2026 general

Orange County November 3, 2026 general voter guide

If you live in Orange County, this is the page we’d hand you after church. Orlando sits in the middle of a charter county whose elected county mayor runs a tourist-economy government most Florida counties simply do not have. Walt Disney World is next door in Osceola, but the workforce, International Drive hotels, Orange County Convention Center, and Orlando International Airport (MCO) sit here. Winter Park, Winter Garden, Apopka, Ocoee, Maitland, Eatonville, and the unincorporated stretches along I-4 all share one county mayor, one clerk’s office, and Orange County Public Schools — then split into different school-board districts and 9th Circuit judicial groups. We score the public record on Christian / faith policy, Constitution & liberty, and GOP alignment. The numbers below are values scores (Christian / Constitution / GOP) plus a 100-point letter. They are not poll numbers, and a win does not raise a score.

Not an official ballot. Not published by any Supervisor of Elections or the Florida Division of Elections. Your legal ballot is by precinct and full residential address. Always verify with the Orange County Supervisor of Elections sample ballot tool.

Orange is unusual because the Mayor of Orange County is a strong, countywide executive — not a ceremonial chair and not the City of Orlando mayor. Jerry Demings is term-limited, so the August 18, 2026 nonpartisan primary was an open seat. If nobody tops 50 percent, the top two go to the November 3, 2026 general. Unofficial Orange ENR: nobody hit 50 percent, and Russell and Messina advance. That mayor will oversee a $9 billion-class budget built on tourist-development tax, convention traffic, and the service-industry workforce that commutes from Kissimmee, Sanford, and the west-side suburbs. A ZIP in 32801 downtown Orlando does not get the same school-board or circuit-judge groups as 34787 Winter Garden. Confirm U.S. House district and school-board seat on the official sample ballot — ZIP alone is approximate.

Key facts

Open this county in the guide How to vote in Florida Primary 2026

Statewide races (every Orange voter)

Every Orange precinct still votes for governor and the special U.S. Senate seat even when the local story is the county mayor. Tallahassee still writes the tax, insurance, and education rules that wrap around a convention-and-theme-park economy. The numbers on this page are the values scores we already have on file. They are not a reason to skip voteorangefl.gov.

Governor of Florida

Open Republican primary for a term-limited seat. Here’s the Republican field we scored for Orange readers. Unofficial election night: Byron Donalds won the Republican primary and David Jolly (4 / 5 / 1 F on this guide) won the Democratic primary. Those two are the November pair unless the canvass says otherwise. A stamp does not change a score.

U.S. Senate (Special)

Special Senate election on the statewide ballot. Scored name on file: Ashley B. Moody (R) 42 / 28 / 20 A. Unofficial: Moody and Nixon are the November pair. Only Republicans picked among the GOP names; only Democrats picked the other side. We keep the Tuesday field on the record so you can see who left the room.

Local primary races on file for Orange

The featured local race on this landing is the Mayor of Orange County. The other contested fields below are the local races we scored for the August 18, 2026 primary. Lists can change — treat the voteorangefl.gov sample ballot as the authority.

Mayor of Orange County

Nonpartisan · countywide · featured race

We scored Chris Messina 38 / 32 / 19 B for a public Christian / conservative county-executive brand: faith/Jesus campaign identity, a health-freedom / MAHA profile, a strong Constitution and local-control trail, and an Orange County Republican Party/Assembly endorsement on a forced-NPA ballot line. Mayra Uribe (4 / 4 / 0 F), Tiffany Moore Russell (0 / 1 / 0 F), and Stephanie Murphy (4 / 3 / 0 F) sit at near-zero Christian / zero GOP. We did not find Jesus/Gospel mayor platforms. Uribe is a longtime Dem-aligned local official. Moore Russell carries a Rainbow Democrats endorsement signal rather than a Christian-values grid. Murphy is a former Democratic U.S. House member with an establishment / left-of-center profile. Unofficial, nobody at 50 percent: Russell and Messina advance to November. That stamp is not a score.

9th Circuit Court Judge Group 1

Nonpartisan · Orange / Osceola circuit

We scored Charles Hart 28 / 26 / 16 C. Judicial canons keep these races from running a Jesus/Gospel campaign, so we look at the public trail we can actually open. Florida Family Action listed him on its 2026 Judicial Primary guide, and he has the clearest liberty/Constitution trail in this three-way (Federalist Society, a public mask-mandate lawsuit framed as free-speech/government overreach, dual ASA/PD résumé). Mikaela Nix (22 / 21 / 12 F) and Temika Hampton-Johnson (20 / 20 / 9 F) are not on that FFA guide. Nix has solid apply-the-law questionnaire answers as the incumbent. Hampton-Johnson has clear apply-the-law answers in a News Collaborative Q&A with a PD/probation résumé.

Orange County Clerk of the Courts (Special)

Democratic primary · special

This special clerk race is a Democratic administrative field. We did not find a continuous Jesus/Gospel campaign grid. Rick Singh carries Property Appraiser experience as a modest competence signal. Roberta Walton Johnson is an institutional counsel/legal candidate. Maribel Gomez Cordero is marked withdrawn in this guide if still displayed. Thin Dem trail on the cards — not a finished mid-band fingerprint.

Orange County Public Schools school board District 3

Nonpartisan · district voters only

We scored Ilia Adorno 30 / 26 / 14 C. No Jesus/Gospel grid found, and a local GOP listing that we treat as a slight parental-rights / conservative-board edge versus an anti-Moms-for-Liberty opponent. Diana Moore (24 / 20 / 10 F) sits in the middle of the three-way with a thinner partisan/culture trail. Susanne Marie Pena (20 / 14 / 6 F) is a registered Democrat in public listings whose campaign social framed unseating the only Moms for Liberty board member. Unofficial: Peña and Moore advance. A values score is not a Winner stamp, and District 3 is not the countywide chair — ZIP does not pick the district.

Orange County School Board Chair

Nonpartisan · countywide chair

We scored Alicia K. Farrant 32 / 26 / 14 C on a mama-bear / parental-rights school-board brand, with the higher Constitution score in this chair pair versus a longtime board institutionalist. Angie Gallo (22 / 16 / 8 F) has no Jesus/Gospel campaign grid on file and an FSBA / public-education coalition profile rather than a parental-rights-first brand. Unofficial: Gallo won the chair outright. Both letters are A, so don’t read the letter as the ranking. The bars are the ranking. A win does not raise a number.

9th Circuit Court Judge Group 2

Nonpartisan

We scored Christina Arguelles 26 / 25 / 13 D. She publicly notes family worship at St. Margaret Mary Church, with no Jesus/Gospel issue platform (judicial canons), plus an anti-communist family story and multi-agency law-enforcement support. Christie Lou Mitchell (22 / 22 / 11 F) has less visible public church identity in the materials we opened, with board certification, a deep family-trial docket, and a chamber/hospitality/attorney endorsement trail rather than multi-agency LE.

9th Circuit Court Judge Group 31

Nonpartisan

We scored Steve Kerestes 26 / 25 / 14 D: no Jesus/Gospel campaign platform, Florida Family Action preferred/listed on the 2026 Judicial Primary guide, plus an Orange GOP endorsement as a partisan signal in a nonpartisan race and a prosecutor path. Kamilah Perry (18 / 21 / 9 F) is not listed on that FFA guide. She has a serious State Attorney’s Office executive and civil-litigation résumé and a Democratic party recommendation that we do not treat as a Christian-values signal.

Orange County Court Judge Group 5

Nonpartisan

We scored Kafi Kennedy 25 / 24 / 10 F: no Jesus/Gospel campaign platform (canons), Preferred / listed by Florida Family Action on its 2026 Judicial Primary guide, with apply-the-law answers (binding higher-court precedent) and a dual ASA + APD résumé. Asima Azam (18 / 21 / 10 F) is not listed on that FFA guide. She has a solid apply-the-law and special-magistrate record and FSC-certified mediation, with an Orlando Sentinel endorsement noted in this guide.

Official sample ballot

Orange County Supervisor of Elections — sample ballot / voter tools
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