There has been very low voter turnout in two Orange County special elections as Democrats look to fill State Senate and State Representative positions.
According to the Orange County Supervisor of Elections, only about 6% of Democratic voters have cast a ballot so far, and today is the primary election day. Local Democratic voters are making decisions in the primaries for State Senate District 15 and State Representative District 40.
Out of 126,588 active eligible voters, only 8,057 people had voted at the time of publication, according to the Orange County SOE. That’s a pathetic 6.36%. There are four Democrats running for State Senate and two running for State House in these primary elections, but it does not appear there is much enthusiasm for Democrats to vote in this summer election.
According to data from the Supervisor of Elections, 3,514 mail ballots were returned and 3,607 Democrats voted early in the 2025 special primary elections for SD15 and HD40. As of 10am today, only another 936 voters cast ballots in-person on Election Day so far.
This Orlando area State Senate District 15 special election is to fill the late Senator Geraldine Thompson’s Florida State Senate seat, which consists of parts of Orange County. There will be a Democratic primary in this special election for this Central Florida State Senate seat on June 24th. Democrats running in the District 15 race include Alan Grayson, Coretta Anthony-Smith, Randolph Bracy and LaVon Bracy Davis.
The winner will face Willie Montague, who was the only Republican to qualify, on September 2nd for the special election.
The open State Representative position in District 40 was caused by Rep. LaVon Bracy Davis resigning to run for the State Senate seat. In that Democratic primary, Travaris McCurdy, who was previously a State Representative, and RaShon Young, who worked for Rep. Bracy Davis, are facing off.
Tuan Le qualified as a Republican candidate in this race, and Christopher Hall qualified as a write-in candidate.
Both Central Florida seats will most likely be won by the eventual Democratic candidates. The Florida legislature will remain in total control of Republicans.
