MEET THE CANDIDATES: Wes Hodge, Orange County Supervisor of Elections

WES HODGE

Age: 46

Residence: Orlando

Family: Married; no children

Education: Professional certification, real-estate sales 

Profession: Full-time candidate

Qualifications: League of Women Voters, Orange County, voter services committee; Orange County Branch, NAACP; Florida Asian American Justice Association; Alianza for Progress; Black Voters Matter; Florida Rising; Working America (community affiliate of the AFL-CIO); Progressives for Democracy in America, Florida,  advisory board member; Orange County Board of Zoning Adjustment (2016-2022), vice chairperson; Orange County Redistricting Committee (2021); Orange County Community Action Board (2022-23); Orange County Democratic Executive Committee, chairperson, campaigns chair, precinct committee person; Orange County Rainbow Democrats, president, endorsement committee.

Why are you running for Orange County Supervisor of Elections?

Our current Supervisor of Elections retired, and for several years, many members of the community asked me to consider running for the position. I have been involved with our local politics for well over a decade, have long-standing relationships with nearly all our elected officials and numerous community leaders, and have been doing the work on the ground for many years.

Of all the candidates in this race, I am the only one who has been working with the Supervisor of Elections staff for the past decade, registering voters, updating vote-by-mail requests, assisting voters with signature match issues and helping establish easier access to information for our voters. 

Finally, and most importantly, I am the only candidate who has been putting out campaign information in multiple formats: English, Spanish, Haitian Creole and image descriptions/closed captioning. Even though English is my primary language, I know that this campaign, and its success is not about me. 

Discuss your previous experience and how it has prepared you to serve in this role.

I am the only candidate who has been working with the election office staff for the past decade. ... I am the only candidate in the race who has worked to register thousands of voters, coordinated writing more than 100,000 postcards to remind residents when their vote-by-mail request expired and assisted thousands of voters to correct signature issues with their ballots so they could have their votes counted. 

I served as the Orange County Democratic Party Chair for six years. This position gave me a legal role in coordination with the elections office, which has provided me with a unique insight and perspective that none of the other candidates possess. 

What are the values and morals that have guided your life, and how will you use them as Supervisor of Elections?

Honesty, integrity, compassion, trustworthiness and openness are my key characteristics and ones that voters should want in an elections supervisor. A good elected official is someone who is willing to listen for what changes need to be made and then finds new and innovative ways to accommodate those requests. 

What are the key differences between you and your opponents?

First, voters love my early-voting appointment system. Much like the tax collector’s office, you can go online or call and make an appointment to vote. 

My experience and knowledge has also set me apart from the rest of the field. Several times throughout this campaign, I have had to correct each of the other candidates, because they provided incorrect or misleading information about the office or the election process. I have comprehensive plans for voter engagement and outreach that none of the other candidates have offered.

What are the three most pressing issues facing voters and the SOE office in Orange County?

Accessibility. Several of our early-voting sites around the county consistently experience long lines. ... For me, lines are a form of voter suppression. ... I want to implement an early-voting appointment system. ... This system already exists in Palm Beach County, and its SOE staff is willing to help bring it to Orange County. 

Another form of limited accessibility exists because we have one SOE office for the entire county. If you want to do anything voting related, you must come to the Kaley (Street) office. I want to partner with the clerk of courts and the tax collector to establish satellite offices in their branch locations to make the SOE office more accessible to our voters. 

I have asked the Orange County Disability Advisory Board and other community organizations to commit to working with the SOE’s office to audit each of the early voting and precinct locations for accessibility. I want to make sure each polling site is accessible for voters with mobility, visual and neuro-diversity issues.

During off-year cycles, only Apopka and Orlando offer early voting within their jurisdictions. This results in abysmal early voting numbers for municipalities, which do not offer early voting in their towns and cities. I have commitments from Eatonville, Oakland, Ocoee and Winter Garden to work on solving this issue.

Finally, I want to address language accessibility. Currently, Orange County is only required to offer English and Spanish for ballot options. We already have the technology in the express voting machines to offer ballots in multiple other languages; it only requires the purchasing of these language licenses. I am committed to buying these licenses for the top five non-English languages in Orange County — Spanish, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, Arabic and Vietnamese.

Evaluate the job Glen Gilzean has done as current Supervisor of Elections. 

It is a mixed bag. He has unnecessarily created confusion with the county about deadlines for ballot initiatives. I am very concerned with reports of no-bid contracts for legal representation, as well as the hiring of the best man at his wedding. His office also lacks quality control measures, as it has consistently disseminated inaccurate information about elections.

On the positive side, I have seen much more community engagement from the office. 

If elected, what will be your strategy to encourage voter turnout and participation?

I want to fully staff the four outreach positions already funded within the SOE’s current budget. I want to partner with our community-based groups working with minorities, immigrants, workers, new citizens and former felons to engage with them in their spaces to discuss voting and what all it entails. 

Increasing youth participation will only happen through engagement and repetition. First, I want to see more engagement on our college campuses; voter registration and education drives during the spring and fall semesters at UCF, Rollins, Valencia, Orlando Tech, Full Sail, etc. Partnering with OCPS, I want to bring the SOE back into our schools. 

Once the students reach 16 or 17 years of age, we can pre-register them to vote. By the time a student graduates high school, we have developed 12 years of a positive voting experience and engagement with them. This is going to be key to developing future generations of engaged young voters.

Discuss candidate Dan Helm’s lawsuit against Cynthia Harris and its anticipated ramifications on this election.

While I support the premise of the lawsuit, Mr. Helm waited nearly two weeks to file his lawsuit. Based on my conversations with election lawyers, his interpretation of the law is incorrect. The Supervisor of Elections and the secretary of state have both in good faith declared this a closed primary. Dr. Castor Dentel and I have spent well over $200,000 toward the August election. If the election is moved to November, we will both suffer irreparable harm as a result of this action. 

How do you ensure voters of all political affiliations that you will fulfill the role of Supervisor of Elections fairly and without bias?

I am committed to implementing policies that will allow all voters to see that the office is run in a transparent way that is fair and free from bias. I aim to broadcast all canvassing meetings on OrangeTV, allowing voters to witness the vote count. I would also like to continue live-streaming the ballot processing. 

I have a long history of holding candidates from all party affiliations accountable when they run afoul of Florida’s election laws. The Florida constitution establishes the Supervisor of Elections as a partisan position, and everyone in this race is a Democrat. Nothing makes anyone “more” or “less” of a Democrat than anyone else. 

During my time as party chair, I regularly met with elected Democrats, Republicans and independents at all levels of government. This was necessary to get any type of legislation or initiative passed. ... I am proud of the support I have earned from across the political spectrum.