School Board member Jon Arguello has accused an Osceola County lobbyist and former state representative of battery after a confrontation Friday at a political event in St. Cloud.
As a result, Osceola Jail records show that Mike Horner was arrested overnight Friday into Saturday morning and charged with battery of an elected official.
A video posted to social media shows the dispute between Arguello and Horner at a fundraiser for Ninth District State Attorney Andrew Bain, who is running for re-election this year, at Fat Boy's Bar-B-Q Friday afternoon. The two are the only ones in the video.
In the 13-second clip posted late Friday afternoon, Arguello begins a live video clip, and Horner is seated across from him. Moments into the video, Horner springs from his seat, gets in Arguello's face, and vehemently demands Arguello not video him. The camera then moves as Horner tries to grab the cellphone, at which point Arguello tells him, "You just touched me, that's assault."
Arguello said Horner tried to snatch the phone from him, and in the process Horner put his hands on him. Arguello also that, upon his arrival and prior to him starting the video, the two had a verbal disagreement about his attendance at the event.
Reached Friday night by phone prior to his arrest by the St. Cloud Police Department, Horner chose not to comment on the incident. At an initial appearance in front of a judge via closed-circuit uplink, the judge found probable cause to hold him on one count of battery on an elected official. She set bond at $2,500 and a condition of his release would be to have no contact with Arguello. He bailed out of jail during the day Saturday.
Arguello was reportedly trespassed from the restaurant, a fact he confirmed on a Facebook Live show he recorded Friday night.
"I was trespassed for being a victim of a crime in their restaurant," he said.
The two have been at odds in the past. After a complaint that Arguello had harassed Horner, then a School Board lobbyist, and his clients after Horner rebuffed Arguello's request for a campaign donation to his sister's 2022 School Board campaign, the School Board voted to censure Arguello for breaching rules regarding conduct toward a School District vendor. Arguello repeatedly asked for Horner's lobbying contract to be terminated during the disagreement. The contract has since expired and was not renewed, a School District official said this weekend.
While Horner still has a contract with Osceola County, a grassroots political committee, the Osceola Action Committee, has started an online petition to terminate that contract.
Arguello is not running for re-election to his district 3 School Board seat this year; rather, he is running for the district 25 State Senate seat. He'll run against challenger Jose Martinez and any other Republican candidates who enter the race in the party's August primary.
Horner served in the Florida House of Representatives from 2008-12.
This is a developing story, check back at AroundOsceola.com for updates.
