Congressional incumbents sweep:

Murphy, Demings and Darren Soto cruised to third terms, while Republicans Michael Waltz, Bill Posey and Dan Webster also won easily.

Central Florida’s congressional incumbents swept races across Orange, Seminole and Osceola counties, returning three Democrats and three Republicans to the House.

In wide margins, Democratic Reps. Stephanie Murphy, Val Demings and Darren Soto cruised to third terms in Washington. Republicans Michael Waltz, Bill Posey and Dan Webster were also comfortably re-elected.

In District 7 which includes all of Seminole County and part of Orange, Murphy defeated Dr. Leo Valentin, a radiology doctor who lives in Orlando. With most ballots counted, Murphy held a commanding lead in both counties, with unofficial results showing her with about 55% of the vote.

The night yielded mixed results for Democrats in Seminole County. While Joe Biden won the county, the first time in generations voters there selected a Democrat for president, Democrats fell short in down-ballot races, though Joy Goff-Marcil held on to her seat in the Florida House against Republican Bob Cortes.

“This election cycle I’m proud that Seminole County went blue for Biden and re-elected Joy GoffMarcil,” Murphy said Tuesday evening. “I look forward to continue to help build the Democratic party in Seminole County.”

Murphy, of Winter Park, is a moderate Democrat who was a national security specialist at the Department of Defense before she was elected to Congress in 2016. She, along with Soto, sits on House Problem Solver’s Caucus, a bipartisan coalition of moderates who seek compromise.

While in District 10, Demings, a rising Democratic star after she served as an impeachment manager and was considered by Joe Biden as a running mate, easily cruised to another two-year term. Demings, a former Orlando Police Chief, defeated Vennia Francois, who was a former policy advisor to U.S. Sen Mel Martinez. Demings won about 64% of ballots.

The district heavily favors Democrats in voter registration and covers majority African American areas of Pine Hills, Eatonville and South Apopka, and wealthy suburbs in Dr. Phillips and Windermere. It also includes slivers of Polk and Lake counties.

Soto won a third term in the district covering the southern half of Orange County, all of Osceola and part of Polk, taking about 62% of the vote. Soto defeated Bill Olson, a decorated retired U.S. Army Sergeant, who made his first run for office to challenge the incumbent.

Soto celebrated the victory at home and with supporters on Zoom.

“There’s some camaraderie going on, but it’s certainly not the same,” he said, adding he was able to thank his campaign team and deliver a speech virtually. “It can’t be the same.”

Soto, a civil rights and commercial attorney, lives in Kissimmee, and, like Murphy, has touted his moderate credentials. A study by Georgetown University’s Mc

Court School of Public Policy ranked him the state’s second-most effective member across the aisle. He also was Florida’s first representative of Puerto Rican descent.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report favored each Central Florida incumbent to win re-election.

The new Congress will be faced with familiar issues when they reconvene, most notably, crafting and passing a second COVID-19 relief bill, which could include stimulus checks for Americans, plus additional relief money for local governments. Murphy said any bill should include support for working families and small businesses, and she said she hoped her employee retention tax credit would be adopted. The proposal, which has bipartisan support, could help as many as 6 million businesses and help keep people employed.

“It just has the potential to help so many people and businesses,” Murphy said. “The bottom line is we need to pass another package to help the American people in this moment of public health and economic crisis.”

Soto said the work should begin immediately.

“We need to return to Washington and pass a COVID-19 relief bill, period,” he said. “The American people needed this months ago.”

Elsewhere across the region, Waltz, won a second term in the district covering Volusia and Flagler counties, with slivers of Lake and St. Johns as well. Waltz is a combat veteran and is the first Green Beret elected to Congress and served in Afghanistan. He retired as a Lt. Colonel, and on Tuesday won 60% of the vote.

Waltz is also a former Fox News Contributor and frequently speaks at rallies for President Donald Trump in Central Florida.

While longtime Republican stalwart Dan Webster, whose district covers parts of Lake County, The Villages and Spring Hill, won about 67% of the vote to win another term, and Republican Scott Franklin won in District 15, which stretches from west of Tampa to a portion of Lake County.