Mina easily gets nod; Osceola ousts Gibson
Voters in Orange County on Tuesday resoundingly reelected Sheriff John Mina, while Osceola voters decided to go in a different direction, ousting incumbent Russ Gibson with the selection of former deputy Marco Lopez in a close race.
Despite growing calls from the community for needed changes to local policing, Mina will almost certainly return to as sheriff after November’s election, when he will face only write-in candidates. In Osceola, however, Lopez will face Luis “Tony” Fernandez, a nonparty affiliated candidate, in the general election.
Mina won with about 55% of the votes from registered Democrats, according to preliminary numbers out of all but mail-in ballots. In the Osceola Sheriff’s race, Lopez squeaked past his challengers with 36% of votes, with all precincts reporting.
Mina came out on top against a crowded field of Democrats, both reformers and career cops, who had hoped to shift the direction of the sheriff’s office. But Mina said late Tuesday he will continue to work to improve what he called one of the most progressive law enforcement agencies.
“A big thank you to all the Orange County voters who came out, … who trusted in me to continue being your sheriff,” Mina said in a virtual press conference late Tuesday. “We continue to improve with technology, with de-escalation training and especially with community engagement… and we’re going to continue [that].”
But in Osceola County, voters called for a change with Marco Lopez now one step closer to returning to lead his former law enforcement agency. Along with Gibson, Lopez beat out Mike Fisher, who had amassed a political war chest more than four times that of Lopez.
Mina, who was first elected as sheriff in a 2018 special election when Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings vacated the role to run for mayor, came to lead Orange’s Sheriff ’s Office from the Orlando Police Department, where he had been chief for four years.
As the Democratic nominee for sheriff, he has locked in an almost foolproof path to continue leading Central Florida’s largest law enforcement agency. Mina will remain in charge of the agency’s almost $270 million budget and about 2,500 full-time employees, while also navigating growing demands from the community to end systemic racism and a lack of accountability in policing.
Mina also recently faced backlash for not quickly releasing the body camera footage from a deputy shooting this month that killed a