By Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix
In Summary:
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings, now a Democratic candidate for governor, said he will make rolling back state preemption a central focus of his campaign, arguing that Tallahassee’s restrictions on local decision-making undermine the will of the people. Speaking about Senate Bill 180 and other preemption measures, Demings called for restoring authority to local governments while maintaining statewide standards. During a wide-ranging interview, he also outlined priorities, including housing affordability, childcare costs, access to education, and humane immigration enforcement. Demings criticized what he views as efforts to whitewash American history and noted concerns about widespread book removals in Florida schools. Entering the race alongside other high-profile candidates, Demings says he is launching a statewide “listening tour” as he campaigns to succeed Gov. Ron DeSantis.
One thing Orange County Mayor and Democratic candidate for governor Jerry Demings intends to change if elected next year is the Florida Legislature’s proclivity for preempting local governments from making their own laws and regulations.
Related: Florida's race for governor is getting crowded.
The latest such move by the Legislature is a law passed earlier this year that restricts local governments from regulating development. Two separate lawsuits have been filed to block the enforcement of Senate Bill 180. Twenty-five cities and counties call the law the “largest incursion into local home rule authority” since the adoption of the Florida Constitution in 1968.
“When Tallahassee preempts local governments from being able to make decisions for themselves, you’re at that point adversely impacting the will of the people, and that is something that has to change,” Demings told a Phoenix reporter while speaking on WMNF-88.5 radio in Tampa on Friday.
“As governor, I will certainly look to work closely with our local governments to give appropriate authority, but also at the same time make certain that we have fair standards across the state of Florida with the understanding that those standards can be applied to allow the people closest to government and local residents to be able to make decisions in the best interests of those that they serve,” said Demings, entering his eighth and final year as Orange County mayor, following a decade (2008-2018) as sheriff.
Demings announced his candidacy earlier this month, joining former Republican U.S. Rep. David Jolly as the highest-ranking Democrats so far to enter the race to succeed Ron DeSantis. Southwest U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds and former Florida House Speaker Paul Renner are the top Republicans in the race, with Donalds — already endorsed by Donald Trump — leading in early polls.
Demings says his decision to enter the race was not sudden. “Many people,” he said, have urged him over several years to enter the gubernatorial sweepstakes, in which the eventual Democratic nominee becomes the decided underdog in a state now with 1.4 million more registered Republicans than Democrats, according to the state’s Division of Elections.
“We need change in Florida,” Demings said. “We are seeing some of the most divisive politics that I’ve seen in my lifetime and, as a result of that, I’m in the race looking for change to bring about some common sense, some normalcy, some diplomacy in government.” He added that housing affordability, education, and the high costs of health care are at the top of his agenda.
Demings said he’d like to work with the private sector “to create partnerships to figure out how we can bring down and reduce the cost of childcare for individuals within this state.”
On the topic of education, Florida this week became the first state to adopt The Phoenix Declaration, authored by The Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank that formulated the Project 2025 plan for Donald Trump’s second administration.
The Phoenix Declaration outlines six core principles for Florida’s education system, including one labeled “citizenship,” which states, “Students should learn the whole truth about America — its merits and its failings — without obscuring that America is a great source of good in the world and that we have a tradition that is worth passing on.”
“We’ve seen progress, but progress still needs to be made to make certain that we have equitable access to quality education within our state,” Demings responded when asked about the policy.
“I don’t believe that we should whitewash the history of our nation, and some people, what they’re trying to do is whitewash the history of our nation. Tell the truth, the good and the bad about what happened to us as a country as part of the strength of our nation.
“I do believe that we remain the United States of America, ‘one nation under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice’ for everyone. But every day that’s a struggle. That’s a struggle when we see the politics of the day trying to further divide us, rather than unite us, and that’s not right. We have countless book bans, where we’re trying to somehow really make the history for some people in this country more palatable. Well, that’s not right. Tell the whole story, because that is a foundational purpose of our country is to bring people from all over the world.”
The DeSantis administration has strongly pushed back on the book ban allegation, insisting that it never happened. However, PEN America, a nonprofit organization advocating for freedom of expression, reported last month that Florida removed more than 2,000 books from classrooms and libraries in 2022. The Florida Department of Education reported that 444 books were removed or discontinued by one of Florida’s school boards during the 2024-25 school year.
Immigration
Demings was involved in a dispute with Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier this summer regarding an addendum to modify the county’s 287(g) Warrant Service Officer (WSO) Memorandum of Agreement that allows county jail officials to transport immigration detainees to ICE facilities. Demings ultimately signed the agreement after Uthmeier threatened to remove him and all six county commissioners from office if he did not.
If Florida enforces federal immigration laws, it should do so “humanely with dignity and respect for the people who are trying to come here,” Demings said.
“I don’t believe America can be as great as it can be without allowing immigrant populations who bring something to the table, who are able to work on our farms and agriculture, who are able to work in our higher education institutions to bring the types of science and research to help us as Americans better live and better cooperate across the world, the globe, in terms of world and global peace,” he said.
Demings says he’s poised to get on the campaign trail and engage in a “listening tour,” which will include an appearance at the Florida Association of Counties in Tampa later this week.
Key Points:
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Jerry Demings says Florida’s growing reliance on state preemption — including laws like Senate Bill 180 limiting local control over development — will be a major issue in his gubernatorial campaign.
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Demings emphasized the restoration of authority to local governments, arguing that decisions should be made by those closest to the communities they affect.
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His platform priorities include housing affordability, education equity, healthcare costs, and reducing childcare expenses through public–private partnerships.
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Demings criticized efforts to alter or restrict the teaching of American history, pointing to thousands of book removals reported in Florida schools.
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He also called for humane immigration enforcement and confirmed he will begin a statewide listening tour as he joins a competitive field of candidates for the 2026 governor’s race.
