After an aide

to Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer files to run for an Orange County commissioner’s seat, incumbent Commissioner Jennifer Thompson says the move is a “blatant power grab” by the mayor.

An Orange County commissioner accused Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer of a “blatant power grab” after a Dyer aide filed to run for the commissioner’s seat.

Lori Harris, Dyer’s adviser on homelessness and social services, filed Friday for the Orange County Commission in District 4, which includes Waterford Lakes, Lake Nona and south Orange.

Incumbent Commissioner Jennifer Thompson, who is term-limited, is backing her longtime aide Susan Makowski to succeed her. In a Facebook video posted Monday, Thompson said Dyer has been calling influential residents for weeks and asking them to back Harris.

“I’m sick to my stomach, and I hope voters will take notice of this,” Thompson said in the video. “This is nothing more than Mayor Buddy Dyer and the city of Orlando and the downtown establishment trying to get control of our local politics so that they can make the decisions … It’s just frustrating to see this kind of political power grab going on.”

Dyer had no comment Monday, but a spokesperson said Dyer will join Harris on Wednesday in front of the Orange County Regional History Center to make an announcement, along with Hispanic community leader Zoraida Velasco. Harris and her treasurer, Joan Jennings, could not be reached for comment.

Thompson, a Republican, is actively supporting Makowski in the nonpartisan race, including endorsing her in a campaign email. Makowski has raised about $55,000 since November, according to campaign filings.

But Thompson said her support of Makowski is different from Dyer’s of Harris.

While she is barred from running for a third term, Dyer “is a sitting, non-term-limited, very influential elected official who picks up the phone prior to [Harris] even getting in, starting to get people on board and money lined up,” Thompson said in an interview with the Orlando Sentinel.

Dyer and the city, she argued, are “trying to get its foot in the door at the County Commission.”

Besides Makowski and Harris, candidates who have filed to run in the district include Kevin Lance Ballinger, Maribel Cordero, Gina Perez-Calhoun and Nicolette Springer.

Three commission seats are up for election in 2018. In addition to District 4, District 2 will have a new commissioner after incumbent Bryan Nelson was elected mayor of Apopka last month, while Commissioner Victoria Siplin is running for reelection in District 6.

A special election for Commissioner Pete Clarke’s District 3 seat would also be triggered if he resigns to run for mayor. Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs is term-limited.

The county elections will take place Aug. 28. If no one gets 50 percent in any race, a runoff will be held Nov. 6.