With voters in Osceola County heading to the polls on or before Aug. 18—early voting begins on the 7th — attendees of last week’s biennial Politics in the Barn got the chance to meet and hear the candidates, then vote in the only local straw pool before the primary at the picturesque Lavender on the Lake.
Races that will send candidates to Osceola’s two City Halls, the County building, Tallahassee and even Washington D.C. had booths, spoke with voters and got 90 seconds to make a statement for all.
Then it was on to the straw poll, run by the Osceola County Supervisor of Elections. Winners of the races were: Ashley Moody for U.S. Senate, Darren Soto for U.S. House, Byron Donalds for Governor, Blaise Ingoglia for CFO, Wilton Simpson for Agriculture Commissioner, Erika Booth and Anthony Nieves for Florida House, Temika Hampton-Johnson, Christina Arguelles and Kamilah Perry for Circuit Judge, Donald Shroyer for County Commission, Greg Filak and Natalie Guzman for School Board, Kirk Zilke for St. Cloud City Council and Angela Eady and Tiffany Jeffers for Kissimmee City Commission.
Shroyer, a former St. Cloud City Council member, said he hopes to turn the straw poll win into primary wins in August and a general election win in November to have two residents from east of “the canal” on the County Commission.
“We haven’t had that in a long time. So it was good to win this poll in my back yard,” he said.
