2006 Orange County, Florida mayoral election

2006 Orange County, Florida mayoral election

←  2002 September 5, 2006 2010  →

Candidate Rich Crotty Sally Baptiste Party Nonpartisan Nonpartisan Popular vote 59,896 25,313 Percentage 70.02% 29.59%

Mayor before election Rich Crotty Nonpartisan Elected mayor Rich Crotty Nonpartisan

The 2006 Orange County, Florida, mayoral election took place on September 5, 2006. Incumbent Mayor Rich Crotty, who was first appointed in 2001 and elected in 2002, ran for re-election to a second full term. Following a 2004 amendment to the county charter that changed the name of the position, ^[1] this was the first election for "Mayor." Crotty did not face a serious challenger, and was opposed by anti-tax activist Sally Baptiste, a former member of the county Soil and Water Conservation District Board. Though the race was formally nonpartisan, both Baptise and Crotty were Republicans. ^[2] Crotty ultimately defeated Baptiste in a landslide, winning 70 percent of the vote.

Primary election

Candidates

• Rich Crotty, incumbent Mayor (Republican) ^[3]
• Sally Baptiste, former member of the Orange County Soil and Water Conservation District Board, anti-tax activist (Republican) ^[2]

Dropped out

• Jonathan Cook, anti-commuter rail activist ^[4]

Declined

• Ted Edwards, Orange County Commissioner ^[3]
• Teresa Jacobs, Orange County Commissioner ^[3]
• Bob Sindler, Orange County Commissioner ^[3]

Results

2006 Orange County, Florida, mayoral election ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	Rich Crotty (inc.)	59,896	70.02%
	Nonpartisan	Sally Baptiste	25,313	29.59%
	Write-in		332	0.39%
Total votes			85,541	100.00%

References

1. McKay, Rich (November 3, 2004). "Orange approves 3 charter measures". Orlando Sentinel . Orlando, Florida. p. B2. Retrieved July 6, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
2. Schlueb, Mark (July 22, 2006). "Qualifying deadline brings focus to races". Orlando Sentinel . Orlando, Florida. p. B1. Retrieved July 6, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
3. "Crotty banks on chalelngers, but no one joins race -- yet". Orlando Sentinel . Orlando, Florida. March 6, 2005. p. K2. Retrieved July 6, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
4. Damron, David (April 23, 2006). "Tangerine tackles politics". Orlando Sentinel . Orlando, Florida. p. J2. Retrieved July 6, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
5. "2006 Primary Election Official Final Results" (PDF). Orange County Supervisor of Elections. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 25, 2011. Retrieved July 6, 2025.