It’s been a busy 24 hours. Mitt Romney took another step towards the nomination winning three more primaries, including an important Wisconsin Contest. President Barack Obama has unofficially recognized the former Massachusetts Governor as his general election opponent and called him out by name while criticizing the Ryan Budget.
In local political news, Buddy Dyer easily won re-election for the office of Orlando Mayor. He took about 58% of the vote with a dismal turnout. The rest of the incumbents were also victorious which means little change on the city council.
It was a great appetizer for the main course of national politics that await of later this year. Here are your morning political headlines.
He had the money, connections, experience, and ran a strong campaign. With those resources Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer will continue to lead the City Beautiful for another term (maybe).
Dyer beat out the fireballer Activist Mike Cantone, Businessman/longtime foe Ken Mulvaney, and held off a challenger from his own ranks in Commissioner Phil Diamond. He cruised to a 58% win that eliminated any possibility of a runoff next month.
What happened?
Dyer outspent his opponents almost 3 times over. He took to television and had a GOTV push that would make someone running for Congress jealous. He used his State of the City address and transitioned it into a potent campaign message. He dropped 40lbs and picked up support with his big city vision and small town delivery. You looked at his campaign finance reports and could recognize that the power players in this town didn’t want a change. You look at the returns tonight and realized that the middle class didn’t either. His biggest risk was participating in debates where everyone would take apart his policies. He stared straight ahead and avoided a damaging soundbyte at all costs.
Turnout was low and that might have given one of Dyer’s opponents a chance to push this into a runoff where they might have had a better possibility in what many thought was an improbability.
Phil Diamond ran a fine campaign and against a weaker incumbent might have stood a chance. In the end the Dyer Juggernaut was too much and despite a decent fundraising push on his end, he couldn’t keep up. You can still make the argument that he was better at the debates than Dyer. We’ll see where he goes from here.
Ken Mulvaney’s late start costed him. His campaign sprung to life in the days leading up to the election but he couldn’t rise up in the debates or define himself as the clear Buddy alternative.
Mike Cantone will be back. He’s actually better off running in a partisan race that will let his Democratic philosophy run full speed. He can grab ink with the best of them and he would be a nightmare to deal with in a head to head race.
Incumbents Tony Ortiz, Patty Sheehan, and Sam Ings were also winners tonight. They’ll be joined by one new face, Jim Gray who will take Diamond’s seat on the council.
Here were the final numbers.
Buddy Dyer: 57.8%
Phil Diamond: 27.9%
Ken Mulvaney: 11.3%
Mike Cantone: 3.2%
Buddy Dyer
Phil Diamond
Ken Mulvaney
Mike Cantone.
So, Mayor Buddy Dyer will remain Orlando’s Mayor. He’ll zig zag around the country pushing Orlando to businesses and major event leaders. He’ll continue to ride on floats down Orange Ave during Holiday Parades. He’ll hop a ride on Air Force One with President Barack Obama. We know all of this already. What we don’t know is what is really next on Buddy Dyer’s political path.
You can ask him. He won’t tell you much… for now. But, in two years we’ll all be watching, including Florida Governor Rick Scott.
Buddy Dyer was the last man standing and got the last word in with the voters.
It’s been a busy 24 hours. Mitt Romney took another step towards the nomination winning three more primaries, including an important Wisconsin Contest. President Barack Obama has unofficially recognized the former Massachusetts Governor as his general election opponent and called him out by name while criticizing the Ryan Budget.
In local political news, Buddy Dyer easily won re-election for the office of Orlando Mayor. He took about 58% of the vote with a dismal turnout. The rest of the incumbents were also victorious which means little change on the city council.
It was a great appetizer for the main course of national politics that await of later this year. Here are your morning political headlines.
He had the money, connections, experience, and ran a strong campaign. With those resources Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer will continue to lead the City Beautiful for another term (maybe).
Dyer beat out the fireballer Activist Mike Cantone, Businessman/longtime foe Ken Mulvaney, and held off a challenger from his own ranks in Commissioner Phil Diamond. He cruised to a 58% win that eliminated any possibility of a runoff next month.
What happened?
Dyer outspent his opponents almost 3 times over. He took to television and had a GOTV push that would make someone running for Congress jealous. He used his State of the City address and transitioned it into a potent campaign message. He dropped 40lbs and picked up support with his big city vision and small town delivery. You looked at his campaign finance reports and could recognize that the power players in this town didn’t want a change. You look at the returns tonight and realized that the middle class didn’t either. His biggest risk was participating in debates where everyone would take apart his policies. He stared straight ahead and avoided a damaging soundbyte at all costs.
Turnout was low and that might have given one of Dyer’s opponents a chance to push this into a runoff where they might have had a better possibility in what many thought was an improbability.
Phil Diamond ran a fine campaign and against a weaker incumbent might have stood a chance. In the end the Dyer Juggernaut was too much and despite a decent fundraising push on his end, he couldn’t keep up. You can still make the argument that he was better at the debates than Dyer. We’ll see where he goes from here.
Ken Mulvaney’s late start costed him. His campaign sprung to life in the days leading up to the election but he couldn’t rise up in the debates or define himself as the clear Buddy alternative.
Mike Cantone will be back. He’s actually better off running in a partisan race that will let his Democratic philosophy run full speed. He can grab ink with the best of them and he would be a nightmare to deal with in a head to head race.
Incumbents Tony Ortiz, Patty Sheehan, and Sam Ings were also winners tonight. They’ll be joined by one new face, Jim Gray who will take Diamond’s seat on the council.
Here were the final numbers.
Buddy Dyer: 57.8%
Phil Diamond: 27.9%
Ken Mulvaney: 11.3%
Mike Cantone: 3.2%
Buddy Dyer
Phil Diamond
Ken Mulvaney
Mike Cantone.
So, Mayor Buddy Dyer will remain Orlando’s Mayor. He’ll zig zag around the country pushing Orlando to businesses and major event leaders. He’ll continue to ride on floats down Orange Ave during Holiday Parades. He’ll hop a ride on Air Force One with President Barack Obama. We know all of this already. What we don’t know is what is really next on Buddy Dyer’s political path.
You can ask him. He won’t tell you much… for now. But, in two years we’ll all be watching, including Florida Governor Rick Scott.
Buddy Dyer was the last man standing and got the last word in with the voters.
It’s been an entertaining campaign and the candidates for Orlando Mayor have been pounding the pavement meeting voters and getting their message out for the big day on April 3rd.
We’ve had debates, press conferences, name calling, and TV commercials and we’ve gotten to know these candidates pretty well. The one thing we’re absolutely sure of?
The personalities of these candidates are as different as communities in the city their trying to lead.
It’s time for a prediction and I’ve got one. Let’s break it down by each candidate.
Businessman Ken Mulvaney:
Strengths: A proven business record. He came to the country years ago and grew his success with only a vision. It’s a non partisan race but if you vote the party line regardless, he’s the only Republican running. His real estate assets have served him well in his GOTV efforts. It doesn’t hurt have the building next to the Supervisor of Elections with your campaign’s presence.
Weaknesses: Late entry. He jumped in shortly before the deadline. He’s too soft spoken during the debates and while trying to sound humble doesn’t always get his points across.
Memorable Campaign Moment: His joint press conference with fellow candidate Mike Cantone and others calling for the investigation of Buddy Dyer’s absentee ballot operations.
Projected Finish 3rd: His late start and the absence of specifics in his message will hurt his chances.
Mulvaney has done fine after a late start but it won't be enough
Community Organizer Mike Cantone:
Strengths: The guy is a gifted public speaker and has turned what could have been a snoozer of an election into an entertaining race. It was his idea to push a full term pledge against Buddy Dyer when his name started popping as a gubernatorial challenge to Rick Scott in 2014, and he’s the only candidate that has been using Social Media to his advantage.
Weaknesses: At times he’s very partisan, modeling his platform after the some of the President’s programs. With unemployment high this could turn away some voters. He’s also a natural attacker which has gotten the best of him at some of the debates and thrown him off message. He’s the only candidate that voters haven’t seen on a ballot before.
Memorable Campaign Moment: There have been many. I would have to say it was during his Orlando Sentinel Op-Ed interview. A lot of candidates buckle in the pressure cooker, he sounded pretty strong.
Projected Finish 4th: The lack of name ID will hurt him and his campaign presence downtown is almost non-existant He’s only 28. He’ll be back and giving future opponents headaches for a long time to come. He’s got a bright future.
Cantone has a bright future ahead of him
Commissioner Phil Diamond.
Strengths: He’s Dyer’s strongest challenger. His knowledge from his time on the City Commission gives him the knowledge to challenge the Mayor at every turn. It’s also the advantage that lets him add substance and credibility to his attacks on the Buddys’ policies. He’s ran a great campaign and he’ll have the biggest presence on the lawns of Orlando voters heading into Tuesday.
Weaknesses:It’s not a deal breaker with voters but it’s identity. I say this because no one knows Diamond’s party affiliation. He’s often confused as being Republican because of the conservative alternatives he presents but, Diamond is a Democrat. Other than that Phil Diamond is a very solid alternative to Buddy Dyer.
Most Memorable Campaign Moment: The College Park Forum when he declared he liked the Mayor but then went through the city’s big expenditures like a wrecking ball.
Projected Finish 2nd: If this was a one on one contest, I might have leaned Diamond’s way but, I think the anti-buddy vote gets split and Diamond narrowly misses.
Diamond is a worthy opponent for the Mayor but his vote will be divided among the other alternatives.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer:
Strengths: Money… Dollar, Dollar bill. Mayor Dyer has plenty of it and along with all of the other resources an incumbent has at their disposal. He’s got connections with all of the power brokers in the city and this is when advocating for big development downtown will pay off. He’s got a Super-pac and he’s been able to recycle a strong State of the City address into a friendly campaign message. He was endorsed by the Orlando Sentinel and it did take a lot of discipline not to lash out at one of his critics during the debates. Then there are the TV ads.
Weaknesses: Having three guys attack you at once during a debate. A group of fiscally conservative voters that didn’t like the Amway Center deal with the Orlando Magic or Sunrail. He still doesn’t have an answer for the homelessness problem in the city and voters did elect a cautious, number cruncher as Orange County Mayor in 2010.
Most Memorable Campaign Moment: At the Florida Forward Debate “I’m flattered all of my opponents think I’ve done such a great job that I should run for Governor”
Projected Finish 1st: He’s got the money, the message, and operations in place for victory. The other three candidates will divide the anti-buddy vote and Mayor Dyer will be re-elected. The only question is by how much?
Dyer should have more to smile about after Tuesday.
So, there you have it. We’ll see how it all plays out on Tuesday. It’s a great race to kick off the election cycle.
It’s been an entertaining campaign and the candidates for Orlando Mayor have been pounding the pavement meeting voters and getting their message out for the big day on April 3rd.
We’ve had debates, press conferences, name calling, and TV commercials and we’ve gotten to know these candidates pretty well. The one thing we’re absolutely sure of?
The personalities of these candidates are as different as communities in the city their trying to lead.
It’s time for a prediction and I’ve got one. Let’s break it down by each candidate.
Businessman Ken Mulvaney:
Strengths: A proven business record. He came to the country years ago and grew his success with only a vision. It’s a non partisan race but if you vote the party line regardless, he’s the only Republican running. His real estate assets have served him well in his GOTV efforts. It doesn’t hurt have the building next to the Supervisor of Elections with your campaign’s presence.
Weaknesses: Late entry. He jumped in shortly before the deadline. He’s too soft spoken during the debates and while trying to sound humble doesn’t always get his points across.
Memorable Campaign Moment: His joint press conference with fellow candidate Mike Cantone and others calling for the investigation of Buddy Dyer’s absentee ballot operations.
Projected Finish 3rd: His late start and the absence of specifics in his message will hurt his chances.
Mulvaney has done fine after a late start but it won't be enough
Community Organizer Mike Cantone:
Strengths: The guy is a gifted public speaker and has turned what could have been a snoozer of an election into an entertaining race. It was his idea to push a full term pledge against Buddy Dyer when his name started popping as a gubernatorial challenge to Rick Scott in 2014, and he’s the only candidate that has been using Social Media to his advantage.
Weaknesses: At times he’s very partisan, modeling his platform after the some of the President’s programs. With unemployment high this could turn away some voters. He’s also a natural attacker which has gotten the best of him at some of the debates and thrown him off message. He’s the only candidate that voters haven’t seen on a ballot before.
Memorable Campaign Moment: There have been many. I would have to say it was during his Orlando Sentinel Op-Ed interview. A lot of candidates buckle in the pressure cooker, he sounded pretty strong.
Projected Finish 4th: The lack of name ID will hurt him and his campaign presence downtown is almost non-existant He’s only 28. He’ll be back and giving future opponents headaches for a long time to come. He’s got a bright future.
Cantone has a bright future ahead of him
Commissioner Phil Diamond.
Strengths: He’s Dyer’s strongest challenger. His knowledge from his time on the City Commission gives him the knowledge to challenge the Mayor at every turn. It’s also the advantage that lets him add substance and credibility to his attacks on the Buddys’ policies. He’s ran a great campaign and he’ll have the biggest presence on the lawns of Orlando voters heading into Tuesday.
Weaknesses:It’s not a deal breaker with voters but it’s identity. I say this because no one knows Diamond’s party affiliation. He’s often confused as being Republican because of the conservative alternatives he presents but, Diamond is a Democrat. Other than that Phil Diamond is a very solid alternative to Buddy Dyer.
Most Memorable Campaign Moment: The College Park Forum when he declared he liked the Mayor but then went through the city’s big expenditures like a wrecking ball.
Projected Finish 2nd: If this was a one on one contest, I might have leaned Diamond’s way but, I think the anti-buddy vote gets split and Diamond narrowly misses.
Diamond is a worthy opponent for the Mayor but his vote will be divided among the other alternatives.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer:
Strengths: Money… Dollar, Dollar bill. Mayor Dyer has plenty of it and along with all of the other resources an incumbent has at their disposal. He’s got connections with all of the power brokers in the city and this is when advocating for big development downtown will pay off. He’s got a Super-pac and he’s been able to recycle a strong State of the City address into a friendly campaign message. He was endorsed by the Orlando Sentinel and it did take a lot of discipline not to lash out at one of his critics during the debates. Then there are the TV ads.
Weaknesses: Having three guys attack you at once during a debate. A group of fiscally conservative voters that didn’t like the Amway Center deal with the Orlando Magic or Sunrail. He still doesn’t have an answer for the homelessness problem in the city and voters did elect a cautious, number cruncher as Orange County Mayor in 2010.
Most Memorable Campaign Moment: At the Florida Forward Debate “I’m flattered all of my opponents think I’ve done such a great job that I should run for Governor”
Projected Finish 1st: He’s got the money, the message, and operations in place for victory. The other three candidates will divide the anti-buddy vote and Mayor Dyer will be re-elected. The only question is by how much?
Dyer should have more to smile about after Tuesday.
So, there you have it. We’ll see how it all plays out on Tuesday. It’s a great race to kick off the election cycle.
If you drive through the neighborhood streets of Downtown Orlando, you’ll see a heavy lawn sign presence as early voting kicks off and election day approaches for the city on April 3rd.
You’ll see a lot of Phil Diamond signs, the commissioner still holds a narrow lead over Mayor Buddy Dyer in that regard but that’s diminished since the Mayor has kicked his grassroots efforts into high gear.
Another thing you’ll notice is on almost every lawn that bares the mouth wash, minty green “Buddy” signs, you’ll see the blue and white signs for City Commissioner Patty Sheehan’s re-election efforts.
It’s not uncommon for campaigns to walk for one another, in fact you can expect a lot of it when the Presidential race kicks into high gear and state parties hit the streets. “Please vote for Barack Obama/Mitt Romney and hey, while you’re at it please consider so and so”
But, teaming with Dyer holds high rewards especially, in these municipal races where you’ve got months separating elections hype and GOTV can be especially difficult. Sheehan’s alliance with the Mayor gives her the edge in every aspect of her campaign from fundraising to volunteering.
You can’t blame her. She’s served with Dyer for years and the two stand on the same side on most of the issues. The Mayor’s platform is almost identical to hers and the two pull from the same group of donors. Not hitching onto Buddy’s rising star, especially when his name keeps surfacing as a challenger to Governor Rick Scott in 2014 would only set her back.
It’s not all good aligning with the Mayor. Sheehan was attacked by one of the Dyer’s opponents earlier this year. Mike Cantone called her the Mayor’s lapdog and the story was picked up by the Orlando Sentinel.
The relationship benefits the Mayor way as well. Sheehan worked with Dyer on an the Domestic Partnership Registry which, delivered him high praise from a powerful LGBT community.
Sheehan faces opposition from Non-profit consultant and businesswoman Aretha Olivarez.
Sheehan's signs are consistently seen sitting next to Buddy Dyer's on the lawns of Orlando Voters.
If you drive through the neighborhood streets of Downtown Orlando, you’ll see a heavy lawn sign presence as early voting kicks off and election day approaches for the city on April 3rd.
You’ll see a lot of Phil Diamond signs, the commissioner still holds a narrow lead over Mayor Buddy Dyer in that regard but that’s diminished since the Mayor has kicked his grassroots efforts into high gear.
Another thing you’ll notice is on almost every lawn that bares the mouth wash, minty green “Buddy” signs, you’ll see the blue and white signs for City Commissioner Patty Sheehan’s re-election efforts.
It’s not uncommon for campaigns to walk for one another, in fact you can expect a lot of it when the Presidential race kicks into high gear and state parties hit the streets. “Please vote for Barack Obama/Mitt Romney and hey, while you’re at it please consider so and so”
But, teaming with Dyer holds high rewards especially, in these municipal races where you’ve got months separating elections hype and GOTV can be especially difficult. Sheehan’s alliance with the Mayor gives her the edge in every aspect of her campaign from fundraising to volunteering.
You can’t blame her. She’s served with Dyer for years and the two stand on the same side on most of the issues. The Mayor’s platform is almost identical to hers and the two pull from the same group of donors. Not hitching onto Buddy’s rising star, especially when his name keeps surfacing as a challenger to Governor Rick Scott in 2014 would only set her back.
It’s not all good aligning with the Mayor. Sheehan was attacked by one of the Dyer’s opponents earlier this year. Mike Cantone called her the Mayor’s lapdog and the story was picked up by the Orlando Sentinel.
The relationship benefits the Mayor as well. Sheehan worked with Dyer on the Domestic Partnership Registry which, delivered him high praise from a powerful LGBT community.
Sheehan faces opposition from Non-profit consultant and businesswoman Aretha Olivarez.
Sheehan's signs are consistently seen sitting next to Buddy Dyer's on the lawns of Orlando Voters.
In front of a capacity audience in La Casa de Puerto Rico, the candidates for Orlando wrapped up their series of debates before the April 3rd election.
Mayor Buddy Dyer, Commissioner Phil Diamond, Businessman Ken Mulvaney, and Neighborhood Organizer Mike Cantone talked about the usual issues that have been at the forefront of the campaign like the venues, spending, public services, and neighborhood safety.
The debate took an interesting turn when the controversial subject of Trayvon Martin came up. Martin is the young man who was shot in Sanford last week by neighborhood watch person George Zimmerman. The story has gained national attention as politicians, activist, and citizens call for the arrest of Zimmerman after the 911 calls were released.
3 of the 4 candidates said they would have called for the arrest of Zimmerman if Mayor of that community. Phil Diamond didn’t say the words but the tone of his reply implied he might have also.
All of candidates vowed to increase Hispanic involvement in government, either through appointments or outreach efforts. The DREAM act was one of the topics and the panel either supported the legislation or a similar solution if the federal issue was somehow brought in front of them.
The no-attack rules dulled the intensity of the debate and turned it in to more of a forum. Let’s break it down.
Mayor Buddy Dyer: Dyer looked like he’s had enough of these debates. Since there was a no attack agreement, Dyer had to listen to his rivals pick apart his policies and decisions without getting a rebuttal. They simply didn’t mention Dyer by name.
The Mayor still had a good portion of the crowd on his side and there were Dyer badges on a lot of the attendees.
Phil Diamond: The one thing Commissioner does well is peel off the layers of Dyer’s statistics. He told the crowd that the Dyer’s Amway center profits were only legitimate if certain details were left out and he brought up a Forbes article that didn’t portray the credit ratings the same way the Mayor Does.
Buddy Dyer should be happy that he didn’t have to go one on one with Diamond during the election cycle. He’s the Mayor’s only opponent that can read the same books a different way and reinterpret the Mayor’s fiscal victories.
Ken Mulvaney: Mulvaney finally got a more aggressive this debate. He described his experiences as an immigrant that allowed him to connect with some in attendance. He slammed the City’s deal with the Magic, pushed for a less expensive parking, and more resources for small business.
Mike Cantone: The no attack agreement actually benefited Cantone. He had to reword his responses and that kept him from sounding like a broken record recorded strictly for slamming the Mayor. His answers sounded thoughtful instead of spiteful and his platform resonated well with left leaning audience.
He also drew the loudest applause of the evening when he stood up for the small business locked out of All-Star weekend by the large fence placed in front of the Amway Center.
Who Won? Well, this was a forum more than a debate and that changes a lot. You can say that Dyers opponents all had their best outing tonight. They all scored points with certain issues while the Mayor kept the course.
This was a terrific event and it’s great to see the Hispanic Community engaged with municipal politics.
Mayor Dyer speaks to supporters after the debate
Commissioner Diamond shaking hands before the debate
Cantone got applause for siding with small business during the Amway All-Star Fence perimeter
Mulvaney hit his stride when talking about his personal experience growing in Orlando.
Those who attended quickly filled the venue
Hispanic involvement in politics will increase as this election year moves on
The event was well attended by local media
Candidates took time to meet with supporters and talk to the media afterwards
With less than two weeks to go until the election, the candidates for Orlando Mayor have been using different tactics to raise name ID and deliver their message to the voters. The methods are as different as the men vying for the job. Let’s break it down by candidate.
Activist Mike Cantone:
The youngest candidate in the field has been embracing social media to get his name out there. He’s running Facebook ads aggressively which is a low cost alternative to airing mainstream media adverts over television and radio. Cantone has also been able to benefit from the media attention drawn from some of his publicity tactics that the news outlets have been able to report on, like calling on Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer to sign a full term pledge when he’s been rumored as a Guv favorite for 14′ and teaming with other candidates to challenge absentee ballots.
Businessman Ken Mulvaney:
The lone Republican in the race has quickly stood up his campaign operation after a late entry and has been effectively using his real estate assets to display his campaign signs. Mulvaney will also benefit from his previous runs for the office which could sway supervoters who’ve had some buyer’s remorse over not voting for him last time.
City Commissioner Phil Diamond:
Phil Diamond has been winning the lawn sign battle for sometime. His diamond shaped markers can be seen up and down the residential streets bordering downtown. He’ll also favor from name ID from his time on the City Commission and should be competitive in the district he represented for so many years. He’s also done well enough with fundraising to ensure you’ll be seeing some mail from him in the future, if you haven’t already.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer:
You know Mayor Dyer. He’s a showman. And he likes to tell the voters how he’s getting it done.
Dyer is the only candidate to hit television so far and his ads are on heavy rotation early weekend mornings when, probable voters are watching public affairs programming.
The Mayor has also deployed what I like to call portable billboards. Large, durable, wooden signs that often require a drill to properly stand up. Those can be seen in the areas around downtown as well in addition to the decent amount of yard signs seen in residential areas.
If you haven’t already, you’ll get mail from Buddy and he’s got the advantages of being the incumbent, which often let him pivot off of official duties to connect with voters and tout his vision for the future.
Every candidate should be walking neighborhoods this close to the election and, expect everyone to spend a lot of the money they’ve got on hand over the next few days to make that final push
