Quinnie Perez won Seat 1 on the Orange County Soil and Water Conservation District Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, capturing more than 35,500 votes for nearly 43% support in a three-way race. The victory, finishing almost six points ahead of runner-up Doug Sahr, made her the first openly transgender elected official in Florida history, according to Equality Florida. She also finished ahead of a third candidate, Vicente Rafael Perez Carreno, in the unofficial Orange County returns.
The LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, which supported her candidacy, said Perez is the first openly transgender woman elected to public office in Florida, according to Florida Politics. Perez grew up in Ocala and is the daughter of Mexican immigrant farmworkers, a background that shaped the campaign she ran for a board most Floridians have probably never heard of. As WFTV reported, Perez said voters gave someone like her a chance.
A Farmworker's Daughter Takes On Flooding and Fair Wages
Perez will represent the southwestern portion of the Orange Soil and Water Conservation District, a nonpartisan board that works to conserve soil and water resources across the county. Per Watermark Out News, Seat 1 stretches from Oakland through Winter Garden and Windermere down to Lake Buena Vista, and the board itself has served Orange County for more than 75 years.
Perez's campaign said her work alongside agricultural laborers in Central Florida showed her firsthand the low wages and housing insecurity those workers face. She called for a stronger voice for farmworkers, fair treatment for agricultural laborers and more sustainable farming practices, the station's report noted. In the Orlando Sentinel's voters guide published in October, Perez put it directly: “As the daughter of Mexican farmworkers, I will fight for fair wages, safe conditions, and stable housing,” she told the Orlando Sentinel.
Wetlands, Rain Gardens and a Board With No Budget
Perez's platform also called for restoring wetlands and improving stormwater drainage to reduce flood risks. She told the Sentinel, “I will push for green infrastructure and wetland restoration to prevent neighborhood flooding,” and she identified rain gardens as a tool to divert standing water away from roads and buildings.
The district itself is a modest body to inherit such ambitions. Pre-election reporting from the Winter Park Voice found the board's biggest problem is the absence of a regular source of funding, leaving it without a budget, taxing authority or staff. Under Florida law, districts organized this way are classified as governmental subdivisions of the state — public bodies corporate and politic exercising public powers, according to Florida Statutes Section 582.20 — even when their day-to-day resources remain thin.
Part of a Bigger Night for LGBTQ+ Candidates
Perez's win landed alongside a broader shift in Florida politics. Five openly LGBTQ+ candidates were elected to the Florida Legislature on Tuesday, with a sixth race, Daniel McDow's contest in Brevard County, still under recount as of Wednesday, per Watermark Out News. The 19th's coverage of transgender and nonbinary candidates nationwide grouped Perez's campaign with that wave, noting she ran on farmworker protections, wetland restoration and green infrastructure, as detailed by The 19th.
A similar milestone unfolded in Alabama, where voters in House District 25 elected Democrat Allison Montgomery over Republican incumbent Phillip Rigsby, making her the state's first transgender legislator. The Associated Press called that race with Montgomery leading 53% to 47% and more than 95% of the estimated vote counted, according to NBC 15. Back in Orange County, Perez now takes her seat on a board with a narrow mandate but, as her campaign framed it, an outsized chance to shape how the region handles flooding, farm labor and conservation for years to come.
