If it was an indictment on the job he’s done the last four years Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez drew four challengers in the Democratic primary for that post.
Tuesday, just 37% of county Democrats chose to re-elect Lopez in the primary election. But it was good enough for him to win the primary and a shot at a second term.
Lopez will face Republican Donnie Martinez in the Nov. 5 general election.
Lopez outlasted longtime Sheriff’s Office employee Wiley Black (22.3%), former Sheriff Russ Gibson (18%), Amaryllis Rivera (16%) and Tony Fernandez (6.5%).
In the Democratic primary for the County Clerk of Court and Comptroller, incumbent clerk Kelvin Soto, with 52.7% of the vote, held off a challenge from the unrelated Jennifer Soto, a former Chief of Staff in the Clerk’s office under a former administration.
Kelvin Soto will face Republican challenger Jossue Lorenzo, who also ran for the position in 2020 as a Democrat.
Races to go to Tallahassee, Washington finalized
The fields for Osceola County’s representatives to Tallahassee and Washington D.C. are now down to two.
In State Senate District 25, Republican Jose Martinez will face Democrat Kristen Arrington in the Nov. 5 general election in a race to replace Democrat Victor Torres, who has reached his term limit.
Martinez, a St. Cloud businessman who last ran for office in the 2021 St. Cloud City Council special election, won the district that spans Osceola and Orange County with about 58% of the vote over Jon Arguello, who gave up his seat on the Osceola County School Board to run for Senate.
Arrington, who leaves the State House of Representatives to make this Senate bid, defeated Carmen Torres, Victor’s wife, and former U.S. Congressman Alan Grayson in the Democratic primary.
To replace Arrington in District 46 of the House, former Kissimmee Mayor Jose Alvarez (39.4%) defeated Dr. Robert LeWayne Johnson and two other Democrats in Tuesday’s primary. Alvarez will face Republican Michael Cruz, who defeated Christian De La Torre with nearly 60% of the vote in that primary.
In the District 47 Democratic primary, Maria Revelles won the right to face incumbent Republican Paula Stark on Nov. 5 in a close race over Anthony Nieves and Andrew Jeng.
Like District 47, District 35 stretches into Orange County. Republican Erika Booth (63.3%) won the Republican primary over Laura Gomez McAdams Tuesday for the right to face off against incumbent Democrat Tom Keen on Nov. 5. Keen defeated Booth in a special election for that seat earlier this year after Fred Hawkins stepped down in 2023 to become president of South Florida State College in Avon Park.
Democrat Darren Soto holds the District 9 seat for the U.S. House of Representatives, and he will run for re-election on Nov. 5 against Marcus Carter, running as No Party Affiliation, and former Osceola County School Board member Thomas Chalifoux, who won Tuesday’s Republican primary over former Osceola County Commissioner John Quinones and challenger Jose Castillo.
Incumbent Republican Rick Scott and Democrat Debbie Murcarsel-Powell will meet up with Libertarian Feen Bonoan and NPA candidate Tuan Nguyen for the U.S. Senator seat up in Florida in 2024.
