SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — Once a Republican stronghold, recent elections have shown Seminole County’s political landscape is shifting. And those changes are coinciding with a surge of women candidates coming to the forefront, especially on the Democratic side.

Seminole County Republicans say if people want to keep what the county has today, they should vote Republican.

“If you enjoy what we have here and love the county, it’s because of Republican leadership for the last two decades and we want to keep it that way – we want to keep Seminole red,” said Republican Party of Seminole County chairwoman Linda Trocine. “So we’re asking people to vote Republican if they want to keep their taxes low and their services high.”

But recent elections show Seminole County is shifting from reliably-red to more blue. 

The county went for Donald Trump in 2016, but in 2018 more voters in the county wanted Democrat Bill Nelson to serve as U.S. Senator again and for Andrew Gillum to be governor. 

Neither Nelson or Gillum won statewide, but votes for them in Seminole County showed a definite shift to the left in the county.

Brittany Nethers is chair of the Seminole County Democratic Party. She believes people moving from Orange County into Seminole County is contributing to the shift.

“I myself grew up in Orange County but then decided to buy my house here in Seminole because of the quality of life and the cost of living,” Nethers said. “We’re really seeing people shift from that city center, and especially down the I-4 corridor.”

Aubrey Jewitt, a UCF political science professor, says construction is playing a role in the mixing of Orange and Seminole counties's previously different and distinct electorates.

“A lot more apartment complexes, townhouses, condos and that kind of thing, and that has brought in a younger group of people into Seminole County,” Jewitt said. “And those younger voters tend to be a little more liberal, a little more progressive and a little more Democratic.”

Nethers said Democrats often didn’t run against Republicans in Seminole County because they didn’t think they had a chance.  But when Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy unseated a longtime Republican in 2016 — and held on to her U.S. House seat in 2018 —she says that not only showed Democrats they could win, but it also inspired more women to run for office. 

There are eleven women running for county, state and federal offices this fall in Seminole County. All but one of them are Democrats.

Nethers believes female voters will be eager to support candidates that will give them more of a representation in local positions, and in Tallahassee.

“I’m personally sick of having old white Republican men make decisions about my life and my body, and I know there are a lot of other women who feel the exact same way,” Nethers said.

Seminole County GOP leaders say experience, not gender is most important as they push to keep Seminole County red.

“We’re encouraging people to vote for the most principled, qualified and experienced candidates, and those are by far and away the Republican candidates,” Trocine said.

But a polarizing and divisive national presidential election on the ballot could also carry over to local races — which could shift the county further into blue territory.

“I think that you have seen a number of Republicans, statistically Republicans who have more education, have tended not to support Trump as much and even some who have become ‘Never Trumpers,’” Jewitt said.