Former Police Chief Demings to Run for Orange County Mayor
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
By: Amy Green

January 7, 2014 | WMFE - Former Orlando Police Chief Val Demings is running for Orange County mayor. She faces a popular and well-funded incumbent in Teresa Jacobs.

[Photo: Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs questions with reporters whether Val Demings is qualified to serve as mayor.]

Demings filed the paperwork Tuesday and says she'll officially launch her campaign Thursday during an event at Lake Eola Park.

In a statement she says she's disappointed by the current administration's "forgotten promises."

Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs says she stands by her record.

"I think there was some reference to ethics and transparency. I don't know of anyone in the state of Florida who has built a better platform and delivered time and time again on ethics."

Jacobs already has announced she'll run for re-election.

Aubrey Jewett, political science professor at the University of Central Florida, says Demings' candidacy transforms an easy re-election for Jacobs into a competitive race.

"She's a progressive Democrat or a liberal Democrat. And I think that is going to be quite different than Teresa Jacobs who I think most people consider her generally conservative, although moderate on some social issues certainly."

Jewett says both women are well-respected in Central Florida, but Jacobs has a healthy head start fundraising.

Demings spent nearly 30 years at the Orlando Police Department before retiring as chief in 2011. She was the first woman in the position.

She ran for Congress the next year, losing to Rep. Dan Webster in a close race.