Women take over Orange County commission, make history
History will be made when three new Orange County commissioners take office Dec. 4.
For the first time, all six commissioners will be female, including three elected on Tuesday. They’ll join Mayor-elect Jerry Demings in running the county. The newly configured seven-member board also will be one of the county’s most diverse ever — with three Hispanic women, two white women and two African-Americans, including the mayor.
“It’s a reflection of the diversity of our community,” said Mayra Uribe, who won 57 percent of the vote Tuesday in commission District 3 to easily defeat Pete Crotty, brother of former Orange County Chairman/Mayor Rich Crotty.
The local triumphs for women came as a wave of women ran for office nationwide during this election cycle — many won historic victories. As of Wednesday, 96 women had won or were projected to win seats in the U.S. House of Representatives with 31 newly elected and 65 incumbents winning re-election.
Women had never held more than 85 of the 435 seats in the House, according to the Congressional Research Service.
At least 13 women also won U.S. Senate seats.
Three women won gubernatorial races Tuesday, boosting the number of women serving as their state’s top executive to nine. Two were firsts — Kristi Noem in South Dakota and Janet Mills in Maine.
Orlando City Commissioner Patty Sheehan, first elected to City Council in 2000, said the national and local election-night success of women reflects the anger and frustration of a voting public appalled at Donald Trump’s presidency.
“I think it’s a culmination of things: It’s how Trump behaves, it’s the Kavanaugh hearings,” Sheehan said referring to the confirmation hearing of U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh that featured testimony by Christine Blasey Ford.
Ford, now a research psychologist at the Stanford University School of Medicine, testified that Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her when both were in high school.
“It resonated with us because we’ve all been there, disbelieved, ignored,” Sheehan said. “People were looking for change, and change takes women because elected men aren’t listening. I think women were motivated.”
Just two years ago, the County Commission had a white Republican male majority — now no commissioner Only two of the seven members of the newly reconstituted nonpartisan board are registered as Republicans — Christine Moore and Betsy VanderLey.
Moore on Tuesday became the first woman ever elected to represent commission District 2, which covers northwest Orange County and includes Apopka, Eatonville, Ocoee and part of Pine Hills.
A political consultant, Moore pointed out female voters outnumber male voters in Orange County and the county’s demographics obviously are shifting left.
“A lot of the more moderate and liberal voters are going to pick a woman over a white man every time, I can tell you that,” she said.
Moore said there is a perception that women collaborate better than men a view that will be tested by the new board.
Orange County and Orlando voters have previously elected women to lead them — including Linda Chapin, the first Orange County chairman in 1990; Glenda Hood, Orlando fits that description. mayor from 1993 to 2003; and Teresa Jacobs, a two-term county mayor who will take over as the elected Orange County School Board chairman later this month.
Women will dominate both the commission and the School Board, which will have a woman in every seat.
“It’s history and it feels great being a part of it,” said Maribel Gómez Cordero, who won the District 4 commission seat Tuesday by 175 votes, edging Susan Makowski. “I still can’t believe it...but I think it means women are beginning to feel empowered.”
According to exit-poll interviews of voters Tuesday, almost 80 percent of voters said it was very or somewhat important that more women be elected to public office and almost half said it's very important.
Almost 80 percent of voters said it's very or somewhat important that more women be elected to public office and almost half said it's very important. Slightly more women than men placed a priority on electing more women to public office, but not by much.
Demings said he has long positive relationships with the new commissioners, though the only winner he endorsed was Uribe.
“My ultimate goal is to make Orange County better,” he said. “We have the opportunity, I think, to take Orange county government to the next level and that is something we can altogether work on.”