Vennia Francois wins Republican primary for US House District 10

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Vennia Francois was declared the winner of Tuesday’s primary with 65% of the vote.

LIVE RESULTS:

EARLIER STORY:

There are two Republican candidates for the U.S. House District 10 congressional seat on the Florida primary ballot in August.

The winner will go on to face Democratic incumbent Rep. Val Demings in November.

[2020 VOTER GUIDE: Everything you need to know ahead of Florida’s primary election]

Florida’s 10th District includes west Orange County. More than 741,000 people live in the area. Prior to the 2016 election, the House seat had been held by Republicans.

Republican primary candidates Vennia Francois and Willie Montague are the two candidates on the Republican primary ticket.

Read more about them below:

Vennia Francois

Francois is an attorney who is a Central Florida native and first-generation American. Her parents moved from the Bahamas to the U.S. in 1971, according to her biography. Francois graduated with a law degree from Florida A&M College of Law. She began her political career as an intern for Rep. John Mica and then for former Sen. Mel Martinez’s office, where she later joined the staff as a policy advisor. Francois worked for Lockheed Martin as a contract attorney where she was assigned to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Her key issues include job creation, accessible health care, protecting veterans and other issues.

Learn more about Francois and her platform here.

Willie Montague

Montague is a mentor to youth, author, motivational speaker and pastor. Born in North Carolina, Montague lives in Orlando, has one adopted son and is known to those he mentors as “pops,” according to his website. Montague is the founder of House of Timothy, a nonprofit in Orlando aimed at helping to empower young men. He also has a mentorship program for kids ages 7 and up. He is working with pastors in Pakistan, where he plans to open an orphanage, according to his website. Montague’s campaign platform includes promises to fight for limited government and champion education reform. In July, Montague wrote in a blog post he intends to outline legislation that will address the tensions between the community and law enforcement agencies. In the post, Montague said he would increase penalties for false accusations against law enforcement and make auto on-body cameras mandatory for law enforcement. Montague was endorsed by the Republican Liberty Caucus and the political action committee Right To Life.

To learn more about Montague’s platform visit his campaign website here.

Florida’s primary is Aug. 18.

You can learn more about the primary and what races you can expect to see on your ballot with ClickOrlando.com’s complete 2020 voter guide.

LIVE RESULTS: