3 School Board races taking shape
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Candidates have filed to run in three 2024 Osceola School Board and its state Senate races. METRO CREATIVE
When sitting Osceola County School Board member Erika Booth announced she’d be running in the special election for eastern Osceola and Orange counties State Legislature district 35 this year, it guaranteed there’d be a new member of the board after the 2024 election cycle.
But, another sitting Board member has announced plans to run for another office in 2024.
District 3’s Jon Arguello announced last week on his Facebook podcast that, rather than running for re-election, he will instead run for state Senate in district 25, which comprises all of Osceola County and the southern part of Orange. The seat is currently held by Democrat Victor Torres, who cannot run for re-election due to term limits.
“A common misunderstanding is that single-member district elected School Board members only serve their district. When you swear your oath, it does not only cover an imaginary boundary of a district,” he said when contacted Friday. “I have been responsible and responsive to every voter in the county.
“I want to represent and help every Osceolan. I want to be the elected official that every citizen can call, not just those waving campaign donations or political allies.”
Arguello, a Republican, has garnered a primary challenge from St. Cloud’s Jose Martinez, a business owner who ran for City Council in 2021. He said his main focus is to work to protect the middle class.
“Those of us in the middle are struggling with affordable housing, and even affordable living,” he said. “There’s people making good money living in hotels who can’t afford a mortgage, or their insurance. And, rising insurance is forcing landlords to increase their rent. I hear other business owners and middle class families complaining.”
“We passed a huge state budget that I support Gov. (Ron) DeSantis on. I love we gave more for teachers, but there’s more the middle class need. I support our governor, and there is some common sense in our state government, but I want to take even more common sense to Tallahassee, and not go there to become a career politician.”
Kristen Arrington, the current district 43 state House of Representatives member for Kissimmee, and Carmen Torres — Victor’s wife — have filed to run on the Democrat side.
“(Arrington) is the standard special interest-driven politician, I am the populist grass roots candidate,” Arguello said. “Her and I are worlds apart.”
Anthony Cook, the School District’s former Director of Career and Technical Education, and Jeffrey Hawk, who has run for county office before, have filed to run for Arguello’s School Board seat.
District 5, Booth’s seat, currently has and St. Cloud’s Brian Bennett and Laura Gomez McAdams and former Silver Spurs Rodeo Big Boss Scott Ramsey signed up to run in what will essentially be a special election — Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to nominate someone to fill Booth’s seat this year.
In district 2, incumbent Julius Melendez has yet to file to run. But two challengers, Bethzaida Garcia and Diana Graniela, have filed for the 2024 race.
Garcia, a community outreach liaison for Osceola County and its Fire Rescue department, worked in Osceola High, Poinciana High and Horizon Middle schools upon coming from Puerto Rico as a special education teaching assistant and learning strategies teacher.
“I’ve been an educator and communicator all my life,” she said. “I have so many beautiful stories of them learning what they needed for testing, and passing what we then called the FCAT,” she said. “I know the needs of our students. I’m running to make safety of children and staff, and the empowerment of our teachers, my priorities. This is the right time, it’s been in my heart.”
Graniela, a stay-at-home mother of two Osceola County students working on her second novel, said her district is at a crossroads in education, with a number of multigenerational families close to the poverty level.
“It’s really about the future of our children, and I consider myself a pragmatic person who brings solutions and the collaborative ability to come together,” she said. “I want to be a parent’s voice, I will listen and stand behind them.
Noting a responsibility to be vigilant about the innocence of young learners, Graniela said one of her fights will be to maintain appropriate content in libraries and among other reading materials.
“I’m big on parental rights and special needs support, in order to support these children and their dreams,” she said. “When you’re leaving a legacy as a parent, do you want them to reach for the branches or reach for the stars?”
