Matt Aungst calls Nelson, Moore ‘career politicians’

Attorney Matthew Aungst announced Monday his campaign for Apopka mayor, becoming the third candidate join the race after Orange County District 2 Commissioner Christine Moore and incumbent Mayor Bryan Nelson.  

Aungst, a lifelong Apopka resident whose law office is located in the city, said when he sent out flyers to “Make Apopka Great Again,” he didn’t have any intention to run as the third candidate.  

The intent behind “Make Apopka Great Again” – which included circulating mailers, billboards and a Facebook page – was to create buzz in the community and to get someone to run as the third candidate against Nelson and Moore, whom Aungst called career politicians.  

Nelson was District 2 commissioner before running and winning his first mayoral term in 2018 and won his second term in 2022. Moore is now serving her second term as District 2 commissioner.   

“It was me reaching out as a private voter, a private citizen, and saying, ‘Let’s talk about this,” Aungst said in an Aug. 4 interview. “I think that the feedback and the discussion that happened online was very fruitful, and after talking to several people in the community and them encouraging me to do it myself.” 

Aungst said his top three priorities, if elected, are to maintain infrastructure, which he views as inadequate; to get the city budget under control so money isn’t taken from the reserves to balance it, and to recruit highly talented professionals to work “as a team.”  

“We have to get some serious professionals in some of these department head positions,” Aungst said. “I think we have to address infrastructure, because what we have now is currently failing or about to fail, but we’ve also got a ton of growth, and I don’t think the infrastructure we currently have is suitable for the growth that we have coming, let alone what we already have is failing.” 

Aungst said the city currently needs leadership in the mayor, leadership by team, and transparency and modernization of how information is disseminated, such as what needs to be made public on the city website that isn’t published on the site.  

“I think that what we have right now is a bunch of people that work in the administration who are very fearful in the way that they do the jobs,” he said. “I think that we do need accountability. And I think those people who work for the city, who work with excellence and produce with excellence… they’re doing a great job. I think that we need to quit micromanaging all of the city workers and the city staff and let them do the job that they’re capable of doing.” 

To further ensure his obligation is to citizens, Aungst said he will wholly self-fund his campaign and not accept contributions from anyone.  

“The greatest threat to a career politician is an opponent who cannot be financially influenced,” Aungst said in his Aug. 4 statement announcing his mayoral campaign. “I will oppose any proposal to use Apopka’s tax dollars to fund programs that primarily benefit 

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individuals from outside of our community. Such initiatives are an irresponsible use of our resources and place long-term burdens on our local services and our community.”  

Aungst holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Central Florida, and a juris doctorate and master of business administration from Florida State University. As an attorney, he practices personal injury protection litigation. He is a father of three children.  

Nelson and Moore were the only two candidates in the mayoral race until William Dabbs, an information technology professional, launched a brief campaign but dropped out of the race in early July.  

Dabbs said in a previous interview with The Apopka Chief he was not affiliated with the “Make Apopka Great Again” billboards and flyers.  

The city of Apopka election will take place in March 2026 for mayor and city council seats 1 and 2. All offices are four-year terms.