ORLANDO, Fla. — After a lawsuit and pressure from both sides of aisle, Governor Ron DeSantis signed executive orders for special elections to fill two empty seats in the Florida House of Representatives—House District 118 in Miami and House District 35 which covers Orange and Osceola Counties.
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Only the Governor can call a special election to fill those seats—something leaders say he needs to do quickly. The ACLU Foundation of Florida filed a lawsuit Friday on behalf of a voter demanding he set the dates for Miami-Dade’s District 118.
Channel 9 reported on the delay Tuesday. HD 35 Former Representative Fred Hawkins’ seat has been vacant since June 30.
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Hawkins stepped down after being selected to be President of South Florida State College. He announced he would step down two months before his resignation.
DeSantis set the HD 35 primary for Nov. 7, and the general for Jan. 16.
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Months ago, the Orange and Osceola County Election Supervisors requested dates in August and September for the primary so the general election would coincide with Orlando City’s election in November.
However, due to the governor’s delay in calling for the special election, both said those recommended primary dates would likely not be feasible now because of deadlines with overseas ballots and registration.
Osceola County Election Supervisor Mary Jane Arrington tells Channel 9 it takes a minimum of three months to prepare for an election.
By January 16th, the date of the general election, the seat will sit will have been vacant for 200 days. This is believed to be the longest amount of time a state legislator’s seat has sat vacant in Florida history.
State legislators are set to begin work September 18, 60 days from now, for the start of committee ahead of the legislative session in January.
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