OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. – Russ Gibson, former sheriff of Osceola County, announced Thursday he had filed to run for reelection in the county’s 2024 race for the same role.
Gibson was elected to the post in 2016 and ousted in 2020 upon losing his primary to Marcos Lopez.
[TRENDING: SpaceX plans nighttime OneWeb launch of 40 satellites from Cape Canaveral | 2 injured in Daytona Beach shooting, police say | Become a News 6 Insider]
In Gibson’s announcement on Facebook, the former sheriff expressed his excitement at filing to run once again.
“You know, after 32 years of serving the people of Osceola County, I’ve never lost my desire to continue my service,” Gibson said.
[STORY CONTINUES BELOW]
Sunday, Lopez issued a heated statement on Facebook that while not mentioning Gibson by name did allude to the former sheriff’s 2020 election loss.
“Two years ago I was elected as your sheriff after being fired and told I had no constitutional rights to run for Sheriff. I won the race and came back to fire his ass!” Lopez said in the post. “When you do things for the right reasons and from the heart, God knows and the vengeance is his. Work hard and never give up because justice always prevails. Happy Sunday all!”
In 2020, Gibson clashed with then Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala over her stance against the death penalty regarding the case of Nicole Montalvo, a mother killed in 2019 by two men, Christopher Otero-Rivera and his father Angel Rivera, who were convicted of second-degree murder. Gibson said Ayala’s attitude led to inaction in the case.
Gov. Ron DeSantis intervened, reassigning the case to neighboring State Attorney Brad King, yet Rivera and Otero-Rivera received life sentences.
Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: