Buddy Dyer | |
---|---|
![]() Dyer in 2018 | |
32nd Mayor of Orlando | |
Assumed office March 1, 2003 | |
Preceded by | Glenda Hood |
Minority Leader of the Florida Senate | |
In office November 17,1998 –November 21,2000 | |
Preceded by | Ken Jenne |
Succeeded by | Tom Rossin |
Member of the Florida Senate from the 14th district | |
In office November 17,1992 –November 19,2002 | |
Preceded by | Rich Crotty |
Succeeded by | Rod Smith |
Personal details | |
Born | John Hugh Dyer August 7,1958 Orlando,Florida,U.S. |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouses | Karen Caudill (m. 1989;div. 2017)Susie Pinson Galloway Shields (m. 2021) |
Children | 2 |
Education | Brown University (BA) University of Florida (JD) |
Signature | ![]() |
John Hugh "Buddy" Dyer (born August 7, 1958) is an American politician who has served as the Mayor of Orlando since 2003. A member of the Florida Democratic Party, he is Orlando's longest-serving mayor. He previously served as a representative for Orlando in the Florida State Senate from 1992 to 2002, with the last two years serving as the Senate Democratic leader.
Dyer was born in 1958 in Orlando. He grew up in nearby Kissimmee, graduating from Osceola High School. [1] He began his political career after serving as an attorney and lawyer following his graduations from Brown University and the University of Florida College of Law. [2]
Dyer's first run for political office was for Kissimmee City Council, which he lost. In 1992 for Florida's State Senate district 14, which consisted of Orlando and Sanford, Florida. Dyer had two Democratic primary opponents, Candice "Candy" Crawford (sister of former Florida Agriculture Commissioner Bob Crawford and political pundit Craig Crawford) and Tim Adams, a local business owner. Dyer won the primary, but failed to get the 50% needed to avoid a runoff. Dyer received 44% of the vote, while Crawford received 39%. Adams received 17% and was eliminated. The runoff between Dyer and Crawford was concentrated in Orlando's African-American communities. Dyer received the support of many of the local churches as well as the endorsement of Tim Adams and Dotti Wynn (loser of the district's Republican primary), while Crawford relied on State Representative Alzo Reddick. Dyer won the runoff 54% to 44%. He continued to the general election, where he faced Republican Steve DeMino, which he won with 56% of the vote.
He was re-elected in 1996 and 2000, serving ten years in the State Senate, where he was State Senate Democratic leader for three years. In 2002 he ran for the office of state attorney general, losing to then-Republican (later Democrat) Charlie Crist. [3]
Dyer was elected the 32nd mayor of Orlando on February 25, 2003, in a special election after the previous mayor, Glenda Hood, was appointed Florida's Secretary of State. He was re-elected in 2004 in a regular election, narrowly avoiding a runoff with challenger Ken Mulvaney. He won re-election again on January 29, 2008, receiving 61% of the vote over challenger Mulvaney. [4] Buddy Dyer was once again re-elected mayor in November 2015 with 62.5% of the vote for his fourth full term in office. [5]
In his years as mayor of Orlando, Buddy Dyer claims progress in realizing his vision for Orlando as a "world-class city." [6] According to his re-election campaign materials, he led Orlando out of a financial crisis and made public safety a top priority. He attracted state-of-the-art health care facilities and created a regional medical area at Lake Nona, [2] and has worked to improve all of the city's neighborhoods. During his term, Orlando has had three consecutive years of employment growth and a 2.2 percent decline in unemployment.[ citation needed ]
Dyer advocated a new performing arts center for Orlando and a new arena for the Orlando Magic. He worked with then-Orange County Mayor Rich Crotty to get approval for using US$1.1 billion of the county's Tourist Development Tax money, collected as a surcharge on hotel rooms, to fund construction of a new arena, a new performing arts center and large-scale renovations of the Citrus Bowl. The measure received final approvals on both the city and county levels in August 2007. Later that month, local hotelier Harris Rosen launched a drive to get initiatives on the ballot to allow citizens to vote on whether they wanted public money spent on these projects.[ citation needed ]
Mayor Dyer has attracted criticism from homeless advocates due to his support for an Orlando ordinance (passed in July 2006) that requires permits for "large group feedings" in downtown parks. The Orlando group of Food Not Bombs sued Dyer and the City of Orlando over the ordinance in federal court. The court ruled in September 2008 that the ordinance was unconstitutional because it violated the group's First Amendment rights. The city has appealed this ruling to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.[ citation needed ] Many critics of Dyer's support of the ban on "large group feedings" claim Dyer backs the ban to appease the wealthy residents of the Lake Eola neighborhood.
He is a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition.[ citation needed ]
Dyer was one of nine mayors who established July 15 as Social Media Giving Day in 2013, encouraging citizens to support charities via social media. [7]
In 2017, he declared July 5 as Impact Wrestling Day in the city of Orlando after joining Orlando nightclub shooting survivor Tony Marrero at an Impact event. [8]
Following the 2004 election, Mulvaney alleged election fraud by Dyer. An investigation into the matter by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement led a grand jury to bring charges against the mayor, his campaign manager, and an election consultant for allegedly paying someone to gather absentee ballots [9] in Orlando's African American community. Such payments are illegal under Florida law. In March 2005, Dyer was suspended by Governor Jeb Bush in accordance with the Florida Constitution. In April 2005, the charges were dismissed and he was reinstated as mayor. [10]
Dyer married Karen Caudill in 1989. Together they have two sons. Dyer filed for divorce from his wife on September 1, 2017; the divorce document stated the marriage was "irretrievably broken". [11] [12]
Dyer married his second wife, Susie Pinson Galloway Shields, in 2021. They had been dating for some time and were a couple during his 2019 campaign. [13]
The Orlando Sentinel named Dyer "The most powerful person in Central Florida" for 2008. [14]
Joseph Xavier Carollo is a Cuban-American politician who served as mayor of Miami from 1996 to 1997 and again from 1998 to 2001. Following his loss in the 2001 mayoral election, he served as Doral, Florida city manager from January 2013 until his firing in April 2014; he was reinstated in June 2017, then immediately resigned. He successfully ran for election to the Miami city commission in 2017.
Daniel Alan Webster is an American businessman and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Florida's 11th congressional district since 2017. A member of the Republican Party, he first entered Congress in 2011. He represented Florida's 10th congressional district from 2011 to 2017. Before his congressional service, he served 28 years in the Florida legislature, and was the first Republican Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives since Reconstruction.
Thad Altman is a Republican politician who currently serves as a member of the Florida House of Representatives, representing parts of the Melbourne area in central Brevard County since 2016. Previously, he represented a similar area in the House from 2003 to 2008, and served in the Florida Senate from 2008 to 2016.
The 2010 United States Senate election in Florida took place on November 2, 2010, concurrently with other elections to the United States Senate in other states, as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
The 2010 Florida gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 2010. Republican-turned-Independent incumbent Governor Charlie Crist chose not to run for a second term and he ran unsuccessfully for the Senate seat vacated by Mel Martínez. This resulted in an open race for Governor of Florida in which Republican Rick Scott narrowly defeated Democrat Alex Sink.
Susan Marie Bucher served as the Supervisor of Elections in Palm Beach County, Florida. Prior to her election as the Supervisor, she served as a member of the Florida House of Representatives, representing the 86th District from 2000 to 2002, and the 88th District from 2002 to 2008. She is a Democrat.
Andy Gardiner is a Republican politician who served as a member of the Florida Senate, representing the 9th District from 2008 to 2012, and the 13th District, which stretches from Orlando to Titusville, from 2012 to 2016. From 2014 to 2016, Gardiner served as the President of the Florida Senate. Prior to Gardiner's election to the Senate, he served in the Florida House of Representatives, representing the 40th District from 2000 to 2008.
The 2014 Florida gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 2014, to elect the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Florida.
Bruce Hadley Antone is an American politician from Florida. A Democrat, he served in the Florida House of Representatives from 2002 to 2006, from 2012 to 2020, and again from 2022, representing parts of Orlando in Orange County.
The 2012 Orlando mayoral election was held on Tuesday, April 3, 2012, to elect the mayor of Orlando, Florida. Incumbent mayor Buddy Dyer was elected to a third full term.
Jeff Clemens is a Democratic politician from Florida. He represented parts of Palm Beach County in the Florida Senate from 2012 until his resignation in 2017, after acknowledging an affair with a lobbyist. He previously served one term in the Florida House of Representatives, representing the 89th district from 2010 to 2012.
John Cortes is a Democratic politician from Florida. He served three terms in the Florida House of Representatives from 2014 to 2020, representing northern Osceola County including Buenaventura Lakes, Campbell, Kissimmee, and Poinciana.
The 2015 Orlando mayoral election was held on Tuesday, November 3, 2015, to elect the mayor of Orlando, Florida. Incumbent mayor Buddy Dyer ran for a fourth full term.
The 2019 United States elections were held, in large part, on Tuesday, November 5, 2019. This off-year election included gubernatorial elections in Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi; regularly-scheduled state legislative elections in Louisiana, Mississippi, Virginia, and New Jersey; and special elections for seats in various state legislatures. Numerous citizen initiatives, mayoral races, and a variety of other local elections also occurred. Three special elections to the United States House of Representatives also took place in 2019 as a result of vacancies.
The 2010 Orange County, Florida mayoral election took place on November 2, 2010. Incumbent Republican Mayor Richard Crotty was unable to seek re-election due to term limits, and four candidates ran to replace him. A nonpartisan primary election was held on August 24, 2010, but because no candidate won a majority of the vote, former County Commissioner Teresa Jacobs, a Republican, advanced to a runoff election against fellow County Commissioner Bill Segal, a Democrat. Following a contentious general election, Jacobs was elected Mayor over Segal in a landslide, winning her first term 68–32.
The 2019 Orlando mayoral election was held on November 5, 2019 to elect the mayor of Orlando.
The 2020 Wisconsin Fall General Election was held in the U.S. state of Wisconsin on November 3, 2020. All of Wisconsin's eight seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election, as well as sixteen seats in the Wisconsin State Senate and all 99 seats in the Wisconsin State Assembly. Voters also chose ten electors to represent them in the Electoral College, which then participated in selecting the president of the United States. The 2020 Fall Partisan Primary was held on August 11, 2020.
The 2023 United States elections were held, in large part, on Tuesday, November 7, 2023. The off-year election included gubernatorial and state legislative elections in a few states, as well as numerous citizen initiatives, mayoral races, and a variety of other local offices on the ballot. At least three special elections to the United States Congress were scheduled as either deaths or vacancies arose. The Democratic Party retained control of the governorship in Kentucky, flipped the Wisconsin Supreme Court and held a seat on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, gained six seats in the New Jersey General Assembly, and won back unified control of the Virginia General Assembly, while Republicans also flipped the governorship in Louisiana and narrowly retained Mississippi's governorship. The election cycle also saw Ohio voting to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution and legalize cannabis for recreational use. The results were widely seen as a success for the Democratic Party.
The 2023 Orlando mayoral election was held on Tuesday, November 7, 2023, to elect the mayor of Orlando, Florida. Incumbent Buddy Dyer successfully ran for a sixth term, which he has said will be his last.