ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Another stop on the campaign trail for the two candidates seeking to be Orange County’s mayor took place on Wednesday afternoon. Tiffany Moore Russell and Chris Messina, who advanced out of the August primary to face off in the November election, were hosted by the League of Women Voters of Orange County for a “Hot Topics” mayoral candidacy forum in Winter Park. The two candidates are seeking to become Orange County’s sixth mayor, and at Wednesday’s forum, they were moderated by the first-ever Orange County mayor, Linda Chapin.
Chapin challenged Messina and Moore Russell with questions on numerous topics, ranging from the protection of green spaces, regional cooperation, tourism development tax dollars, and as far as how they take their coffee in the morning. Each candidate was given 90 seconds to answer each question in front of a packed house, seats occupied by members of the League of Women Voters, Winter Park residents, and constituents from across Orange County.
One of the first questions asked was how candidates expected to protect green spaces, rural areas, and established suburban neighborhoods through the lens of Vision 2050, Orange County’s comprehensive plan to handle regional growth, in the wake of Senate Bill 180’s restrictions on local government’s ability to manage development. Messina opened by saying he felt the next generation of the Orange County Board of County Commissioners needs to be “proactive instead of reactive in terms of guiding development.” He pointed to underutilized areas in the urban core, such as strip malls along Colonial Dr. and Orange Blossom Trl., that would be prime locations to “redirect development”. Messina stated he didn’t want to risk “provoking fights with the state legislature” in reaction to Senate Bill 180s effects on home rule and restrictions, whilst Tiffany Moore Russell expressed her desire that the county “continue to work with the Florida Association of Counties to continue to lobby our legislature and always make sure we can defend our home rule and our decision to make decisions for our local community.”
Regarding the county’s internal development, Chapin also posed multiple questions to the candidates about how they’d invest tourism development tax dollars in the community. Moore Russell stated that she was “not a fan right now of building any major facilities until we know how do we support those who work in the industry”, speaking about projects similar to the Orange County Convention Center expansion. She stated she’d like to see funding placed into cultural and arts funding, as well as “affordable housing and workforce housing.” Messina rejected the idea of putting TDT dollars into affordable housing, calling it a “stretch too far”.
Both candidates supported the idea of putting TDT dollars into transportation corridor development, but seemingly with different intended targets. Messina saying the county could “focus on bringing tourists to their final destinations, like from the airport to the big hotels, or the theme parks..”, while Moore Russell said she’d focus on finding ways the county could “support, indirectly...things that are impacted by tourism, like transportation, not just moving those who visit Orange County, but the people who work in this industry.”
Following the theme of transportation, Chapin asked what the candidate’s very top priority was when it came to transportation issues. Moore Russel advocated for the expansion of SunRail, and their partnership with Lynx to develop the Sunshine Transit Advancement Resolution plan, which she says would bring more “Rapid buses throughout Orange County”, and achieve higher “connectivity” between different portions of the county.
Messina pledged to partner Orange County with Seminole, and join the Scout program—bringing “smaller technology enabled busses” to Orange County streets, saying the program has saved Seminole “10 million dollars”, an estimate Seminole County made in 2025 after cutting 8 of the county’s 11 fixed Lynx bus routes.
Candidates were also asked whether they would incentivize new industries to come to Orange County and emphasize economic diversification during their term. Moore Russell emphasized protecting and supporting current local businesses and industries in the county, and targeting new players in industries already established there.
She pointed to the modeling and simulation industry, manufacturing, and agriculture, stating that “we’re doing well in the country, we’re known for that. How do we make sure we could expand on that and make sure it’s sustainable and moving forward for the future.” Messina emphasized the space industry, stating that partnerships with UCF and key players in the Space industry will be greatly beneficial to the county. He said he’s been “working very closely with our State Legislators” to bring a “Space Academy” to Florida, referencing the August 28th proclamation by President Donald Trump which asserted the creation of the “Presidential Commission on the United States Space Academy”, a NASA-led technical academy that, according to the proclamation, would “develop a professional corps of civically grounded leaders prepared to advance American interests within the space domain.”
One sector of economic diversification that both candidates agreed to avoid is the data center industry. Moore Russell is supporting a moratorium in Orange County to allow the administration to “pause” and “really study the issue and make sure we have input from both the public and the private sector about what’s best for Orange County.” Messina stating he has “a very strong stance against AI data centers here in central Florida”, specifically citing water consumption issues.
Speaking to WFTV after the forum, both candidates expressed gratitude to the League of Women Voters for hosting the event, and they hope voters caught a glimpse of their vision for Orange County. The general election will take place on November 3.
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