State legislator Anna Eskamani announced on Monday that she’d be running for Mayor of Orlando in the 2027 election, an attempt to become the first new mayor the city has had in over two decades. Her announcement coincides with a decision by Buddy Dyer not to run when his current term ends at the next election.
“With so much uncertainty at the national level, we need a people-centered leader with the courage to challenge the status quo and the vision to deliver bold, creative solutions to address our community’s everyday challenges, from homelessness and public safety to small business support and affordability,” Eskamani said at her Orlando City Hall announcement on Monday.
Eskamani in the State House of Representatives
Eskamani has served in the Florida House of Representatives since 2018, representing the 47th and later 42nd districts of the legislature’s lower chamber. A progressive Democrat, Eskamani has long been one of the state’s foremost voices on liberal policy positions during her time in office. She has already been endorsed by fellow progressives Maxwell Frost (U.S. congressman, FL-10) and Carlos Guillermo Smith (state senator, FL-17).
Prior to joining the Florida legislature, Eskamani was a senior communications official for Planned Parenthood’s regional Florida operation, a post she used to springboard into politics. She ran for the state House in 2018, backed by former President Barack Obama, Mayor Dyer, and multiple progressive advocacy organizations. She became a staunch supporter of LGBTQ+ rights, renewable energy, and Medicaid expansion among other things.
Setting the Stage to Run
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, seen here in his official portrait, took office in 2003.
The office of Orlando Mayor has seen strikingly little turnover in the 2000’s; Dyer has been in office since he was first elected in 2003. There was one gap in Dyer’s two-plus-decade tenure, however – in March 2005, then-Governor Jeb Bush suspended Dyer from office after he was charged with paying for the collection of absentee ballots. Dyer was later cleared of these charges, and after just over a month out of office he served from April 2005 all the way up to the present.
Eskamani’s potential election would be historic in multiple ways for Orlando. She would be only the second to be Orlando’s Mayor, following Glenda E. Hood who served from 1992 to 2003. She would also be only the second person of Iranian-American heritage to be elected mayor of any city in the United States, following former Beverly Hills, California Mayor Jimmy Delshad.
Because Eskamani is barred from running for another term in the state legislature, the 2026 election cycle will mark the end of her career in the Florida House of Representatives. Announcing over two years early that she’d campaign for the Orlando mayor’s office in 2027 will keep her in the public spotlight even in the period when she doesn’t hold office, a move that could help prevent competition from other competitive Democrats.
