Orange County mayor race heads to runoff

Orange County voters cast ballots Tuesday to select the next mayor, ending an eight year stretch without a direct election for the post. The contest pits Tiffany Moore Russell against Chris Messina in a nonpartisan runoff.

The winner will control one of Florida’s largest county budgets, which spans several billion dollars. Neither candidate secured the majority threshold in the August primary, forcing the November showdown.

Moore Russell serves as the Orange County clerk of courts. She ran for the board in 2006 at the youngest age for the seat at that time. Her campaign emphasizes her administrative record, specifically her management of the clerk’s office finances. She stated she is prepared to start governing "day one."

Messina, a tech entrepreneur based in Winter Park, positions himself as an outsider with three decades of business leadership experience. He argues the county requires a "21st century vision" to solve problems with technology rather than taxes. He describes Moore Russell as "another career politician."

The central financial issue is Amendment 3, a property tax cut on the ballot. County projections estimate the measure would cut next year’s budget by approximately $165 million. Moore Russell opposes the amendment based on those figures. Messina supports the cut, arguing the projections fail to account for population and economic growth.

"Our whole focus is on literally economic empowerment, lifting everyone up, cutting costs, especially the costs that government imposes on people, looking at solving problems with technology instead of taxes," Messina said Tuesday morning. Moore Russell adopted a forward looking tone at a polling place, noting that the real work begins after the count is complete.

Polls closed at 7 p.m. Both candidates registered their party affiliations publicly, with Moore Russell as a Democrat and Messina as a Republican. Watch parties were scheduled for both camps as they awaited the final tallies.