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2 candidates are tracked for Orange County Mayor, headed to a November 3, 2026 runoff: Chris Messina and Tiffany Moore Russell. Candidate information follows official Orange County election filings; verify with the official election office linked below.
August 18 result: no candidate won a majority, so Tiffany Moore Russell (32 percent) and Chris Messina (27 percent) advance to a November 3 runoff; Stephanie Murphy and Mayra Uribe were eliminated, per unofficial results with all precincts reporting.
Chris Messina
Nonpartisan
Tech entrepreneur from Winter Park; CEO of Body1 with 30+ years of executive leadership, holding a master's in city and regional planning and a Harvard MBA, per The Apopka Chief candidate Q&A; described as a tech entrepreneur per Wikipedia's 2026 Orange County mayoral election page.
2026 priorities
- Innovative job creation and economic diversification, including SpaceTech proposals, per chrismessina.com and The Apopka Chief Q&A
- Affordable housing and transportation solutions, per chrismessina.com
- Eliminating government waste through zero-based budgeting, per The Apopka Chief Q&A
Source: candidate campaign site, roster verified 2026-08-19.
Reported fundraising: $80,420 (county campaign-finance filings).
Campaign site →
Tiffany Moore Russell
Nonpartisan
Sitting Orange County Clerk of the Circuit Court, resigning effective Aug. 31, 2026 to run for mayor; cites 20+ years of public service including County Commissioner and Clerk roles, per Wikipedia's 2026 mayoral election page, West Orlando News, and The Apopka Chief Q&A.
2026 priorities
- Affordable housing expansion across all eight county districts, per The Apopka Chief Q&A and clickorlando.com forum coverage
- Responsible growth with infrastructure investment, per The Apopka Chief Q&A
- Budget efficiency, proposing a 25% budget-cut exercise from every department before considering tax increases, per cfpublic.org June 2026 forum coverage
Source: candidate campaign site, roster verified 2026-08-19.
Reported fundraising: $266,648 (county campaign-finance filings).
Campaign site →
