Karen Castor Dentel trumps competition in Orange County supervisor of elections race

ORLANDO, Fla. – Karen Castor Dentel trumped her three opponents on Election Day, coming out on top for the Orange County supervisor of elections race.

Longtime Supervisor of Elections Bill Cowles retired in January, and Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Glen Gilzean to replace him. However, Gilzean decided not to run for the job this November. Four Democrats are vying to become the new supervisor of elections in Orange County.

The Orange County supervisor of elections is in charge of overseeing the office that registers people to vote, maintains voter rolls, qualifies local candidates for races, sends out vote-by-mail ballots, staffs and manages polling locations, and makes sure votes are tabulated and election results are determined with accuracy and transparency.

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The supervisor has to navigate a complicated set of election laws and rules to make sure all of this is done and deal with the public, including those who question the accuracy of elections.

This election was supposed to happen during the Aug. 20 primary, and the winner was supposed to face no-party-affiliate candidate Cynthia Harris in November.

However, one of the candidates sued to have Harris removed from the ballot, saying she violated election law when she filed to run.

A judge agreed and removed Harris from the ballot right before the primary. Because of that, Florida law required the race to move to the general election.

Let’s meet the candidates.

KAREN CASTOR DENTEL - Campaign website

Karen Castor Dentel has a Florida public service pedigree. Her mother, Betty Castor, was the first woman elected to the Hillsborough County Commission in Tampa and later served as Florida Education Commissioner. Her father was a county court judge. Her sister is U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa.

Castor Dentel was a teacher for Orange County Public Schools and served two years in the Florida House of Representatives. Then, she was elected to the Orange County School Board in 2017. She was reelected in 2020.

While in the Florida House, the majority of the bills Castor Dentel sponsored were education-related. She also sponsored a ban on employers requesting or requiring access to employee social media accounts.

She did sponsor a bill in 2013 that would have expanded the list of available locations for early voting sites. While the bill didn’t pass, its provisions were folded into a larger reform package that eventually became law.

A list of Castor Dentel’s sponsored bills is available on the Florida House website.

On her campaign website, Castor Dentel also says she partnered with the supervisor of elections office to expand opportunities for graduating high school students to register to vote, a program she wants to expand if elected.

She also wants to continue many of the policies already in place while also expanding early voting sites and establishing satellite offices throughout the county. Orange County currently only has one elections office location. Brevard County, for instance, has four.

She says she will also ask the Orange County comptroller to conduct an audit of office operations to make sure there are no ethical issues and institute an office code of ethics.

SUNSHINE LINDA-MARIE GRUND - Campaign website

Sunshine Grund is a licensed real estate agent with her own brokerage. She is a veteran of the Army National Guard and a graduate of UCF.

Grund says she wants to expand accessibility by finding ways to enhance online voter registration and vote-by-mail requests and having a system to monitor wait times at polling places. She also wants to use data analytics to better tailor outreach and engagement efforts to the community, and offer more events and workshops to foster a sense of community participation in elections.

DAN HELM - Campaign website

Dan Helm is an attorney with a focus on election law and is the only candidate who has worked in the Orange County Supervisor of Elections Office. He has served as a deputy regional director for Voter Protection in Central Florida in 2016, training lawyers and volunteers in election law.

In 2018, he sued then-Elections Supervisor Bill Cowles, accusing his office of violating state law by having workers ask voters if they still lived at the address on file. The office changed its policy after the lawsuit.

Helm filed the lawsuit against Gilzean and NPA candidate Cynthia Harris, which led to Harris being removed from the ballot.

Helm says Harris paid the qualifying fee to run for the election from the wrong bank account, in violation of state law. Helm says the county elections office never should have allowed Harris to qualify for the race because of that and the court agreed.

An appellate court upheld that decision on Oct. 16.

Regarding his plans for the office, Helm has a broad platform. He wants to expand early voting, introduce online voter registration at the county level, and change the supervisor of elections website to make it more accessible. He wants to make the office more transparent by saving digital ballot images and making them available for voters to do their own audits.

Helm wants to also institute a redundancy plan for hurricanes.

WES HODGE - Campaign website

Wes Hodge is a real estate broker, cancer survivor, and political organizer who was chair of the Orange County Democratic Party for 6 years. In his time working with various campaigns he partnered with community groups on voter outreach, engagement, and election security. On his website, Hodge says he also worked with Democratic and Republican leaders on voting rights and early voting access. Hodge has also served as a commissioner on the Board of Zoning Adjustment.

Hodge’s priorities, if elected, include creating an early voting appointment system to help people avoid long lines, and using a disability advisory board to audit all voting locations to make sure they comply with disability guidelines and are located on accessible bus routes.

Hodge also wants to provide voter guides and information in more languages, do more to help felons who have had their voting rights restored register to vote, create a citizens training academy so that people can learn about the election process, and increase community engagement.