Voters favor Valentin, Olson, Francois

572 votes out

50,000 cast.

A third candidate, real estate investor Yukong Zhao of Orlando, had about 24% of the vote.

Valentin will challenge U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Winter Park, on Nov. 3.

In District 9 in Osceola and parts of Orange and Polk counties, William Olson took almost 49% of the vote to defeat three opponents.

Christopher Wright of Lake Nona received about 23%, Jose Castillo of Davenport took in about 20%,

of

almost and Sergio Ortiz of Kissimmee received about 9%.

Olson, 56, of Davenport, a retired U.S. Army Sgt. first class and a Walt Disney World employee, will face U.S. Rep. Darren Soto, DKissimmee, in November.

In District 10, former Republican U.S. Senate aide Vennia Francois defeated pastor Willie Montague, 65% to 35%.

Francois will challenge U.S. Rep. Val Demings, DOrlando. Demings, like Soto and Murphy, did not have a Republican opponent in 2018.

Francois had previously run in the Republican primary for District 7 in 2018 but was defeated by former state Rep. Mike Miller.

Murphy, Soto and Demings are all seeking their third terms after first being elected in 2016.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report listed all three races as “solid” Democratic, despite the even partisan split in Murphy’s District 7.

In District 15, which includes parts of Lake, Polk and Hillsborough counties, Franklin, a former Naval aviator and businessman, defeated Spano 51.3% to 48.7%.

Spano, who had faced a campaign ethics investigation for alleged illegal loans, became a target of his Republican colleague, U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, RPensacola, who backed Franklin in his primary bid.

Franklin will face Alan Cohn, the winner of the three-way Democratic primary. Cohn, an investigative journalist, won about 41% of the vote to state Rep. Adam Hattersley’s 33% and Jesse Philippe at 26%.