Candidate qualifying ended Friday at noon, setting the stage for local, statewide races in Aug. 18 primary
The candidate qualifying period for candidates running in the 2026 election cycle closed Friday at noon, and the process has yielded seven contested elections for those who will serve in Kissimmee or St. Cloud, four state Legislative seats, two U.S. Congressional seats and a U.S. Senate race.
Osceola County voters will also vote with the rest of Floridians, starting with the Aug. 18 primary, for candidates for U.S. Senator, Governor and state Cabinet positions like Attorney General, Chief Financial Officer and Commissioner of Agriculture. The general election is Nov. 3.
With the exception of the race for Osceola County Commission District 2, will be on the November ballot, Osceola County voters will have a busy ballot in the all-important primary election, with county, city and School Board races on tap to select those who will govern locally.
Four of the five Osceola County School Board seats were set to be up for grabs in 2026, but two incumbents, District 4 and 5’s Heather Kahoun and Paula Bronson, did not attract challengers and will be re-elected unopposed. St. Cloud City Council member Ken Gilbert will keep his Seat 4 in the same manner.
Among the qualifiers:
Osceola County Commission
District 2 — In the only partisan races on the 2026 county ballot, incumbent Democrat Viviana Janer seeks her fourth term. She’ll be challenged in November by Republican and former two-term Kissimmee City Commissioner and Mayor (2020-24) Olga Gonzalez.
District 4 — In a race to replace departing three-term Commissioner Cheryl Grieb, the August primary includes three Democrats: Hope Partnership CEO Rev. Mary Downey, area small business owner Rafael Lebron and Jose Gonzalez, a late newcomer to the race. Former St. Cloud City Council member Donald Shroyer and business owner and Osceola Action Committee co-founder Nelly Hernandez.
School Board
District 1 — Outgoing Two-term member Teresa Castillo makes way for either Jay Wheeler, who sat in that seat from 2004-18, or former Celebration Community Development District chair Greg Filak.
District 3 — The three challengers are mental health professional and former School Advisory Council chair Alyssa Noel, and Natalie Guzman and Carl Velasquez Mitchell, who entered the race on March 2 and May 27 respectively.
Kissimmee City Commission
Seat 2 — Incumbent Angela Eady, who also served a term from 2016-20, is challenged by businesswoman Wanda Roman.
Seat 4 — Incumbent Janette Martinez has drawn three opponents in her bid for a second term: Black Empowerment and Community Council CEO Tiffany Jeffers, 2024 Seat 3 candidate Rubin Anderson and business owner and community advocate Maria Virginia Garcia.
St. Cloud City Council
Seat 5 — The race to replace outgoing Shawn Fletcher will come down to retail manager and city Finance Committee member Jim Moore, Inflight Supervisor Alex Rodriguez and longtime St. Cloud Police veteran Kirk Zilke.
State House of Representatives
District 35 — In November, incumbent Republican will face homeless advocate and Democrat Eric Gray, as we’re back into partisan races.
District 45 — Democrat incumbent Leonard Spencer will defend his seat to represent Celebration, Reunion, ChampionsGate and western Orange County in November against Republican challenger Erin Huntley.
District 46 — Incumbent Democrat Jose Alvarez faces an August primary race against challenge Robert LeWayne Johnson for the right to square off against Republican Michael Cruz and No Party Affiliate candidate Dr. Ivan Rivera, who both also ran for the seat in 2024.
District 47 — Democrats Jorge Figueroa and Anthony Nieves meet in August to run against incumbent Republican Paula Stark.
Judges
Residents in Osceola County, part of the Ninth Circuit, will chose between Temika Hampton-Johnson, Charles Hart and Mikaela Nix in Group 1, Christina Arguelles and Christie Lou Mitchell in Group 2, and Steve Kerestes and Kamilah Perry in Group 31.
U.S. Congress
Congressional District 9 — Incumbent Democrat Darren Soto will wait to see who he faces in November out of a loaded Republican August primary to keep his seat in a district that now spans from Lake Nona to Lake Okeechobee and includes Indian River County. The Republicans are Ben Butler of Lorida, Marcus Carter and Thomas Chalifoux of Kissimmee, Jorge Martinez of Orlando, Steve Rance of Ocoee, Justin Story of St. Cloud and Dan Green, whose listed address is in Gainesville.
District 18 — Areas of northwestern Osceola have been carved into a district that also includes Polk County, and the November candidates will be incumbent Republican Scott Franklin, Democrat Curtis Gibson and NPA Deva Simmons.
U.S. Senate — To keep the seat that Gov. Ron DeSantis nominated her for after Marco Rubio became President Trump’s nod for Secretary of Senate, incumbent Ashley Moody will vie in the primary with Chris Gleason, Neelam Taneja Perry and Ernest Rivera. Democrats Angie Nixon and Alex Vindman will have their race.
Governor — Speaking of DeSantis, the field to replace him is large. Republicans vying in the primary include Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, businessman James Fishback, Jim Holcomb, Arthur McCaffrey, Daniel Nokovich, former Florida Speaker of the House Paul Renner, Rachel Rodriguez, James Shaw, Caneste Succe and Bobby Williams.
The Democratic side includes Evelyn Castillo-Bach, Thomas Fernandez, Dayna Foster, David Jolly, Dotie Joseph and Stephann Norman.
State Cabinet — Republicans Blaise Ingoglia and Frank Collige and Democrats Earle Ford and Annette Taddeo are in Chief Financial Officer primaries; Republicans Wilton Simpson and Matt Taylor and Democrats Joey Mendoza Atkins and Donald Prichard for Commissioner of Agriculture, and come November Democrat Jose Javier Rodriguez will challenge Republican Attorney General James Uthmeier for his seat.
To vote in the Aug. 18 primary, voters must be registered by July 20. Early Voting in Osceola County is from Aug. 7-16 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at one of 11 sites (listed at https://www.voteosceola.gov/en-us/how-to-vote/vote-early/). Polls at assigned precincts will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on primary Election Day.
This story is part of a collaborative initiative of independent local news outlets working towards a more informed and engaged Central Florida.
