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On the brink of history: Orange Co. could have two black commissioners

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Both candidates vying for Tiffany Moore Russell's vacant seat are black and now, former Sen. Bryan Nelson and Alvin Moore are in a runoff in District 2 after neither candidate got enough votes to win the race outright during Tuesday's primary.

Now, the race for Commissioner Fred Brummer's old seat has the potential to be a dead heat in November. While it used to be a predominately Republican district, redistricting has given Democrats the lead by a wide margin, according to Channel 9's Lori Brown.

Nelson almost won Brummer's old seat Tuesday, but he fell 230 votes shy of the 50 percent mark.

"Two-hundred-and-thirty votes would have been a really sweet deal last night, but we feel pretty good that we came first by a pretty wide margin," said Nelson.

And while Nelson's margin, 49 percent to 19 percent, sounds like a landslide, WFTV political analyst Rick Foglesong said that may not be the case.

The vote was split between six candidates.

"If you look at the outcome in race terms, the white candidate got 49 percent of the vote, and 51 percent voted for an African-American candidate," said Foglesong.

Moore could not be reached Wednesday, but his campaign manager told Channel 9 they are excited.

"People in Ocoee or Pine Hills felt they didn't have representation," said campaign manager Lonnie Thompson. "I think Vice Mayor Moore wants to represent everyone in the district."

That is something Nelson said he also wants to do.

"I walked some of the neighborhoods in south Apopka, and people said, 'Yeah, I graduated two years ahead of you, played on the football team with your brother,'" said Nelson.

But according to Foglesong, Nelson's best chance of winning the much more diverse District 2 seat passed Tuesday.