Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings is running for governor.
Demings’ campaign office said he'll be making the official announcement on Thursday. But he filed paperwork on Friday forming his account to run as a Democrat in the 2026 election.
He is the seventh Democratic candidate in the race to replace Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. There are 29 candidates overall, including nine Republicans.
Former Republican U.S. Rep. David Jolly is also running for the Democratic nomination.
Demings, 66, was first elected county mayor in 2018. Before that, beginning in 1998, he made history as the first African American to serve as Orlando police chief. Ten years later, he was elected Orange County sheriff. He was re-elected to that office twice.
Demings is married to former U.S. Rep. Val Demings. She won the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in 2022 but lost in the general election to then-Sen. Marco Rubio.
A recent poll from the University of North Florida showed Jerry Demings and Jolly both trailing potential GOP nominees U.S. Rep. Byron Donald and Florida first lady Casey DeSantis by double digits.
