Republican Erika Booth and Democrat Tom Keen will face off in the Jan. 16 general election for the Florida House of Representatives' District 35 seat, vacated this year when Rep. Fred Hawkins took the job as president of South Florida State College in Avon Park.
Booth, currently an Osceola County School Board member, and Keen, an aerospace training and simulation businessman from Orlando, won their party's primaries Tuesday.
District 35 includes areas south and east of St. Cloud, to the southern and eastern county borders, up through Narcoossee, then into Orange County to include much of Lake Nona and the eastern parts of Orange County, east of UCF to areas like Bithlo, Christmas and Wedgefield. While Orange County voters also had races for Orlando mayor (Buddy Dyer easily won another term) and two City Commission on the ballot, the District 35 primaries were the only race for Osceola County voters in the district.
Voter turnout in Osceola was 21.64% -- 3,595 of the 16,615 District 35 voters cast a ballot either by mail (1,112 votes), during early voting (257) or on Tuesday (1,100). Voter turnout in Orange County was just over 16%.
Here is the vote tally, adding up both the Osceola and Orange County voting results:
Florida House of Representatives District 35 Special Election
Republicans
Erika Booth 3,708 -- 49.62%
Scotty Moore 2,506 -- 33.60%
Ken Davenport 1,253 -- 16.79%
Democrats
Tom Keen 2,419 -- 36.01%
Rishi Bagga 2,278 -- 33.55%
Marucci Guzman 2,053 -- 30.44%
This seat was up for grabs in 2022, and Bagga narrowly defeated Keen in that primary -- Hawkins went on to beat Bagga in the general election by 10 percentage points -- so this win by Keen is seen as a mild upset. While Keen led throughout the night as votes were tallied in Orange County, Bagga rallied as the last mail-in votes were counted to narrow the final gap.
“This hard-won victory is not only a testament to our collective commitment but also to the power of hope and unity," Keen said. "Our team will continue to build momentum, engage with our community, and spread our message of inclusivity, compassion, and progress. There is much work to be done, and I am more determined than ever to be the strong voice that our district needs.”
Meanwhile, Booth won nearly half of the votes to win over Moore, who ran last year against incumbent Rep. Darren Soto for his U.S. House of Representatives seat. Booth had earned the support of state-level Republican Party endorsers, Moore had a groundswell of local support among many Osceola County Republican voters and groups. Davenport, who also ran for the District 35 seat in 2022, was a distant third.
"I'd like to thank everyone for their votes and the support," Booth said. "It's been a tough race but the results speak for themselves. I am beyond grateful, but this journey is not yet over.
"Tallahassee needs leadership and our message will be loud and clear: Tallahassee needs a lesson in making Florida affordable and who better to give a lesson than a central Florida classroom teacher. I will not stop nor slowdown until we win this special election in January."
