October 29, 2026 (Orange County, FL) – Statewide, registered voters started voting this month. Here in Orange County the last day to vote early is this Sunday, Nov. 1. Early voting location hours are 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. at 27 locations across the county, according to the Orange County Supervisor of Elections Office. If you are registered to vote, you can Vote Early.
With the number of locations and extended hours, especially on the weekend, there is no good reason why registered voters don’t go vote. To see the locations and their addresses, click here: Early Voting in Orange County Florida | Locations & Hours | OCSOE
Why not participate in the process and have your voice heard of who you want to represent you and your family and on your desires on key issues. You can speak up by voting early, without having to wait in long lines or having to experience an unexpected incident that would prevent you from voting on election day Nov. 3. (That’s a total of 14 early voting days with 27 locations to choose from versus 1 day of election day at your polling place.)
The elections office even has the wait times at each location on the website.
What’s at stake? First off, the Office of Governor. Florida will elect a new governor; current Gov. Ron DeSantis has termed out of the position (He has reached the state’s constitutional term limit of two terms or 8 years for the position so he cannot run again.)
The state is in midst of high costs for food, gas and housing, just like most other states in the county. And that is to name only a few issues. We have seen in reports basically saying that the DeSantis administration and the many-years-majority-Republican-held Florida legislature has followed the lead of the Trump administration in many aspects, such as immigration and “ICE” operations, along with the redrawing of congressional districts right before the upcoming mid-term election.
The major gubernatorial candidates are: Republican Byron Donalds and Democrat David Jolly. Check their platforms and running mates on their perspective websites or social media platforms.
You may have seen or heard the television ads. Donalds, who could become the state’s first Black governor, boasts getting endorsements from President Trump and DeSantis. This, at a time where the president’s approval rating has reached 36 percent, while 61 percent disapprove (final poll for the mid-term election by New York Times and Siena University, Oct. 27, 2026).
Jolly, former Republican U.S. congressman, left the party in 2018 and became an Independent and later, a Democrats (PBS News, June 5, 2025). He’s been a vocal critic of the president while in office and as a political commentator on MSNBC, reports say.
We are also voting for who we want for United States Senate: Republican Ashley Moody (former Florida Attorney General), who was appointed to the seat in January 2025 by Gov. DeSantis to replace Marco Rubio.
Moody’s major competitor is Democrat Angie Nixon, state lawmaker, who has been vocal against DeSantis’ policies especially concerning attempts to change voting maps before the mid-term election. Nixon would be the first Black person to become a U.S. Senator from the state of Florida. Nixon has been endorsed by President Obama (Politico, Oct. 24, 2026).
Remember there are three state constitutional amendments also on your ballot:
Amendment 1- Budget Stabilization Fund (more money to basically allow withdrawals for “critical state needs”)
Amendment 2 – Exemption of Tangible Personal Property on Agricultural Land from Taxation (for personal property habitually located or typically present on land classified as agricultural.)
Amendment 3 – Increased Homestead Exemption; Lower Cap on Increases in Non-Homestead Property Assessments (whether or not to increase the homestead exemption on non-school taxes and make four other changes.)
Orange County voters will decide on some key public offices such as County Mayor, two new county commission seats, Clerk of Court along with a School Board question to continue the current one mill ad valorem millage for essential operating expenses. (This would include teacher pay, support employees, academic programs, arts, athletics and student activities.)
