ORLANDO, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday appointed the head of the district that oversees Walt Disney World property to be the Orange County’s supervisor of elections.
Glenton Gilzean will take over the agency formerly overseen by longtime supervisor Bill Cowles, who stepped down in January to retire.
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Gilzean is currently the administrator for the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, the special taxing district that was revamped by DeSantis and the Florida Legislature a year ago. Before that, Gilzean was the president and CEO of the Central Florida Urban League.
DeSantis had also appointed him as chairman of the state’s Commission on Ethics, but he had to resign last year after it came to light that he could not serve on the commission if he was a paid public service employee.
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Gilzean will now manage the office that oversees voters and elections at all levels of government for Orange County, in the middle of the 2024 election. He’s coming in middle of voting for the March 19 Presidential Preference Primary and local elections. Early voting in Orange County began Monday.
Gilzean is also only in charge of the elections office through January 2025. Voters will choose a new Orange County elections supervisor in November, and the winner of that election will take over the office. If Gilzean wants the position permanently, he will have to campaign for the office. Gilzean is a Republican.
It’s not known yet if Gilzean will resign as administrator of the CFTOD to become Orange County supervisor of elections. We’ve reached out to the CFTOD for confirmation. The CFTOD administrator position has a salary of $400,000, while the supervisor position pays almost $200,000.
A Facebook post on an account attributable to Gilzean said deputy administrator Paula Hoisington will serve as acting administrator.
Cowles retired Jan. 31 after more than 20 years in office. In December he told News 6 that he was leaving behind a well-oiled machine, and the new administrator need only look to his staff to manage the elections effectively.
“The good news is when you look back at the staff that we have here at the elections office, they have a total of 425 years of elections, administration experience, whether it be done here or have been done at other locations, and are now part of our team,” Cowles said. “And so they are prepared. They know their job. They know what is ahead.”
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