Vice Mayor Diane Velazquez filed to run for re-election Monday, aiming to extend her run as the longest-serving current council member.

Velazquez, who holds Seat 2, is a familiar face in the community, not just as a public figure but as someone who frequents community events and sits on several organization boards.  

“I just think it’s really important that our commissioners be very involved, very visible and accessible, not just to the residents, to the businesses, to the schools,” Velazquez said in a Tuesday interview with The Apopka Chief.

Velazquez’s priorities for her campaign are to keep serving and supporting the community, one way being in educating people about land development issues.

“A lot of those developments aren’t going to become a reality for another three to 10 years,” Velazquez said. “I think that’s one of the things that’s important, to kind of assure our community, is that a lot of these developments that we are approving because housing is a necessity right now. We have such a shortage of housing. It’s just that when people hear these developments coming, in their mind, they think they’re coming within next year or the year after, but when I speak to the developers, I’ve always asked for a timeframe.”

Velazquez was first elected to the Apopka City Council in 2014 and has held it since that year, except for 2018 to 2020, when she was appointed planning and zoning commissioner for Orange County District 2. She was elected to Apopka City Council Seat 2 again in 2020.

A retired NYPD officer, Velazquez is married to Ed Velazquez and the couple has two children.

Seat 1

On Dec. 3, former City Commissioner Sam Ruth announced his campaign for City Council Seat 1, currently held by Alexander H. Smith.

In a Facebook post, Ruth said his campaign will focus on three priorities he believes Apopka currently needs: infrastructure before expansion, restoring professionalism on the dais, and clearing up Apopka’s boundary confusion.

“Apopka is worth fighting for,” Ruth said. “I love this city, and I believe in its future — but only if we have leadership committed to transparency, responsible planning, and a genuine respect for the people who live here.”

A lifelong Apopka resident, Ruth said the city has shaped him into the person he is today. He is calling on residents to get engaged in the process of the city’s direction and to work together for its future.

Ruth previously served from April 2014 to April 2016 in Seat 3, which he won in a runoff election in April 2014 against Linda Laurendeau. He lost to Doug Bankson in his bid for re-election in the 2016 runoff.

Smith told the Chief on Dec. 5 that after the City Council meeting on Dec. 3, he filed paperwork to run for his third term in Seat 1. He was first elected to Seat 1 in 2018. In 2022, he won his second term, which is set to expire in 2026.

Looking “at the glass as being half full instead of half empty,” Smith said in a Tuesday press release that the council has accomplished a lot over the years. Such achievements include opening the permanent Fire Station No. 6 on Harmon Road, upgrading Alonzo Williams Park and setting up new traffic signals.

Smith said many other infrastructures and buildings are under construction, including an additional exit from State Road 429 onto Binion Road, the four-lane construction of a section of Ocoee-Apopka Road and upgrades at the Northwest Recreation Complex.

A retired public educator, Smith is married with five children and 13 grandchildren. He is the pastor of New Hope Missionary Baptist Church in Apopka.

Smith said he’s committed to seeing workforce and affordable housing increases for Apopka residents and workers, continue to advocate for more educational opportunities for residents, the annexation of unincorporated South Apopka, and to address and resolve the unhoused issue.

Seat 4

On Monday, Yesenia Baron, a retired law enforcement officer, former small business owner and community advocate, announced her bid on Facebook to run for Seat 4, currently occupied by Commissioner Nick Nesta.

Nesta must step down as Seat 4 commissioner to run for mayor in the 2026 race. 

“I am running since I believe we can move [the] City of Apopka forward with purpose by planning growth responsibly, investing in our downtown, and creating opportunities for families and small businesses to thrive right here in the beautiful City of Apopka,” Baron said in her Monday Facebook post announcing her campaign.

This is not Baron’s first bid for a council seat. In 2020, she ran for Seat 2, which Velazquez won in a runoff. Since then, Baron has seen the same challenges but “in a more pronounced state,” she said in her post.

Baron said that the city “is saturated with growth and the growth hasn’t been managed responsibly. Our infrastructure has not caught up (and we’re paying the price); housing has become unaffordable and we are losing opportunities to build on the kind of city our residents want.”

Baron said that city-formed partnerships and ecotourism promotion can help small business growth, maintain local economy, and increase a live, work and play environment in Apopka.

The municipal election will take place March 10, 2026, and will include races for mayor, Seat 1 and Seat 2. Incumbent Bryan Nelson is running against three challengers, including District 2 County Commissioner Christine Moore, attorney Matt Aungst and Nesta.