In a state House of Representatives dominated by Republicans who hold a supermajority, Democrats are looking to hang onto an open Osceola County seat.
The seat is being vacated by Kristen Arrington, a Democrat who instead is running for state Senate.
Democrats have four choices on their ballots: Jose Alvarez, Vanessa Alvarez, Robert LeWayne Johnson and Jacqueline Centeno.
Republicans have two: Michael Cruz and Christian De La Torre.
The winners of the respective Aug. 20 primaries will face Ivan Rivera, a longshot candidate without a party affiliation. The district’s electorate skews heavily left: Democrats have 42% of registered voters, while Republicans account for about 20%, according to county records.
One bipartisan point of agreement among the five candidates interviewed for this story: The district desperately needs infrastructure investment to address traffic congestion.
Democrats
Jose Alvarez, 59, is a former mayor of Kissimmee and was appointed by the Biden Administration to serve as a regional administrator for the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, overseeing the southeast and Caribbean.
That knowledge would make him an effective state representative, he argues,and give him a leg up to bring in funding to address the shortage of affordable housing.
“What that gave me is even more knowledge from the inside of how to go after federal funds and bring them back to our state,” he said.
He’s the best-funded candidate in the race, with more than $87,600 in his campaign account.
He said he wants to file a bill to expand the Sunshine Law, barring more than one close family member or spouse from serving on any board protected by the state’s open records laws.
Vanessa Alvarez is not related to Jose Alvarez. She initially filed to run for a seat on the Kissimmee city commission, where her husband Carlos holds a seat and is seeking re-election, but then changed course.
She’s raised about $2,100, with $1,550 coming in the form of a loan.
She didn’t respond to multiple text messages to discuss her campaign, and the Orlando Sentinel was unable to find a website outlining her platform or candidacy.
Johnson, 67, is a decorated military veteran, who retired in 2016 as a Chief Warrant Officer after 34 years in the Army and Air Force. He received a bronze star, awarded to soldiers for heroic service or meritorious achievement.
After leaving the armed forces, Johnson focused his attention on the problem of veterans’ homelessness. He said he traveled to Tallahassee earlier this year to fight now-signed legislation rewriting Florida’s homelessness strategy – which requires local governments to enforce camping bans [and, critics say, criminalizes people with nowhere to sleep. Providing housing to people along with treatment and job skill training would be a better strategy, Johnson said.
“That to me is…criminalizing me as a veteran, if I have nowhere else to sleep for doing what is natural,” he said. “I would like the state to bring in money to establish wraparound veteran’s villages, or wraparound villages for people experiencing homelessness.”
Johnson also said he’d work to improve teacher pay. He’s raised about $28,000 toward his bid, funding $27,000 himself.
Centeno, 62, is a lifelong educator who currently works in administration at an elementary school in Poinciana. She entered the race amid concerns about state reform efforts she feared would privatize public education.
“As an educator I kept seeing all the issues with public funding and trying to privatize education, and the constant low pay for teachers,” she said. “Even though the governor upped the minimum starting salary, it doesn’t help teachers who have been 10+ years in the system.”
She said she supports transforming vacant motels in the district into affordable housing, opposes the unpermitted carrying of firearms and objects to reducing the legal age of purchase of semi-automatic rifles to 18.
She’s raised about $8,300 in her campaign.
Republicans
De La Torre, 42, ran for the seat two years ago against Arrington, garnering about 39% of the vote. He works in property management and maintenance management.
He said he’d bring a blue-collar mindset to Tallahassee, with the costs of gas, groceries and insurance as some of his top priorities. De La Torre also wants to help bring funding to the district for mentoring and after school programs for students.
He serves on the Osceola Countyschool board’s curriculum review committee, and said he’s concerned with “all the craziness going on about gender identity and crazy books in schools.”
He’s raised about $4,900 toward his campaign.
Cruz, 63, is a U.S. Army veteran who now runs a real estate firm with his wife.
He said he believes the state needs to do more for homeowners facing steep insurance costs, and wants to reduce regulations and recruit more companies to offer policies in the state.
He also wants to file a bill to reduce tax burden on retirees and people with disabilities.
“I would propose that once a person reaches the age of retirement or disabled, they shouldn’t have to pay property taxes on their homesteaded property,” he said.
Cruz is a first-time candidate and has raised $1,400.
rygillespie@orlandosentinel.com
