Demings concerned about hosting GOP

Protests, virus surge worry county mayor

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings elaborated Friday about why the prospect of a Republican National Convention in Orange County this summer is a concern as the GOP continues to try to lock down a location just months before the gathering where President Donald Trump will officially accept the presidential nomination.

Demings, a Democrat and the county’s former sheriff, said the region’s law enforcement agencies are already taxed from multiple daily protests, now in their seventh day, against racial injustice and police brutality in response to the death of George Floyd.

At the same time, he said, anxiety remains over the risk of a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic as Florida continues to reopen and the region’s tourism industry starts to reignite, hoping to bring more tourists to the area.

“Infuse then politics into the equation with a political convention, I think it’s an ingredient for failure,” said Demings, who is married to U.S. Rep Val Demings, considered a potential running mate for presumed Democratic