Longtime nonprofit leader and homelessness advocate Eric Gray is running for the chance to flip a Republican-held House seat.
Gray said the decision was motivated by the state recently pressuring Orange County Commissioners to support an immigration deal[1] or risk getting thrown out of office.
“I didn’t want to be looking over my shoulder while I’m serving on the County Commission,” said Gray, who was named Orlando Sentinel’s Central Floridian of the Year in 2024[2]. “I’m going where the fight is.”
Gray, a Democrat, originally filed last year to run for the Orange County Commission in 2026. But he is switching to a bigger challenge: trying to oust Republican Rep. Erika Booth[3] in House District 35.
Gray is scheduled to hold a press conference Friday morning to announce his new intentions.
HD 35, which covers part of Orange and Osceola counties, is a seat of political intrigue.
Democrat Tom Keen managed to flip the district[4] in a January 2024 Special Election in rare good news for Democrats. But Keen lost to Booth in a rematch in November 2024[5].
In his first time running for political office, Gray believes HD 35 could go blue again, but said there is work to do.
“This is going to take a lot of door knocking,” he said. “And frankly, it’s going to take some people who have no party affiliation or even some Republicans who are sort of sick and tired of seeing what they’re seeing.”
Keen, who is now running for Orlando City Council[6], encouraged Gray not to overlook the Osceola portion of the district in HD 35.
“I think he’s exactly right,” Gray responded.
Endorsing Gray are U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost, outgoing state Rep. Anna Eskamani, who is running for Orlando Mayor, Orange County Commissioner Kelly Martinez Semrad and Orlando City Commissioner Shan Rose.
Gray, who turns 50 next month, is the Executive Director of the Christian Service Center[7].
He lives in Waterford Lakes with his family and is the father of four children, with the two youngest enrolled at Timber Creek High School.
Gray has a master’s in public administration from the University of Kentucky and a bachelor’s in telecommunications operations from the University of Florida.
Gray said he is not afraid to fight back, pointing to his stances against the establishment, like advocating for Orange County’s hotel tax to be spent on community needs instead of Visit Orlando and tourism promotion.
Gray said he feels compelled to go into politics amid a growing concern about policies criminalizing the homeless, stripping local governments of power, public schools losing billions of dollars to private school vouchers, and more.
“There’s a lot of fear amongst my friends and family and my colleagues about what they see happening on the news every day both in Florida and nationally and I feel it’s kind of like seeing a burning building,” Gray said. “It’s like the house is on fire and somebody needs to go help.”
References
- ^ to support an immigration deal (floridapolitics.com)
- ^ Central Floridian of the Year in 2024 (www.orlandosentinel.com)
- ^ Erika Booth (www.flhouse.gov)
- ^ flip the district (floridapolitics.com)
- ^ in a rematch in November 2024 (floridapolitics.com)
- ^ who is now running for Orlando City Council (floridapolitics.com)
- ^ Christian Service Center (www.christianservicecenter.org)