The Orlando mayoral election is getting heated as Lee Corso and Lou Holtz are on opposite sides heading into Tuesday’s decision.
It is always fun when sports gets involved in politics. Especially as silly as something like celebrity public endorsements.
The Orlando mayoral race will get decided Tuesday, Nov. 3 (vote, if you are a registered Orlando resident) and there is a little bit of intrigue in what will happen when the votes are tallied.
Well, maybe not. Mayor Buddy Dyer is expected to defeat his challenger, Paul Paulson, pretty handily. But Paulson has raised a lot of noise with flyers and ads throughout the city trying to unseat the incumbent.
The more interesting battle, it would seem, is the battle between former ESPN college football analysts and college football coaches with dueling endorsements in this race.
Lee Corso recorded a spot for Dyer (linked below) where he used his GameDay schtick to pick Dyer for mayor. Pretty good choice. I hear Corso is pretty good in his election headgear selections.
Orlando Mayor Gameday from Team True on Vimeo.
However, his former ESPN colleague and former Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz is going the other way.
Holtz sent an endorsement letter with a $100 check enclosed to Paulson’s campaign, as posted on the East Orlando Post. The Post playfully points out how much more successful Holtz was as a coach than Corso.
Holtz’s endorsement though came with a warning. In the letter, Holtz offers his endorsement and donation but then says:
“What I don’t understand is why you have to pay such a severe price to be a citizen of Orlando. The tolls started out as a quarter and now they are $1.50 and they just keep going up and up, and yet the service is as bad as ever. If you are elected and you don’t do the things you promised, I will campaign for your next opponent.”
That sounds ominous.
In fairness to both mayoral candidates, the Central Florida Expressway Authority controls tolls throughout Central Florida, although the city of Orlando certainly has some influence on it. It appears to be an independent body.
The debate here between these two coach endorsers is largely the same as the one in the general election.
Paulson is complaining about Dyer’s “insider status” and the increase in taxes paid by the citizens of Orlando. He is styling himself as the conservative option against Dyer and his spending and seeming corporate welfare.
Dyer is running on his record though. A record that has included the expansion of Orlando’s Downtown core, the building of the Orlando venues project and the growth of Orlando’s business profile.
Dyer is expected to win the election rather easily. But, of course, the vote is up to the citizens of Orlando to decide.
