Sheriff Marcos Lopez beats crowded primary field, advances to November

OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. – Incumbent Sheriff Marcos Lopez will advance to the general election in November after defeating four challengers in the Democratic primary Tuesday in Osceola County.

Lopez garnered 36.91% of the vote, with his next closest opponent being Wiley Black with 22.3% of the vote. Former Sheriff Russ Gibson got 18.11% of the vote.

“We are just at the four-year mark, we were starting to see a decline in violent crime, violent crime that’s what we focus on,” Lopez told News 6 Tuesday. “Through the technology and everything that we’re doing. Hopefully we’ll be able to improve and pick up on that and learn as we go. I just want to tell the people that we’re here and we have the best interest at heart and we’re going to continue to work hard for you.”

Lopez will face Republican challenger Donnie Martinez in the November election.

Osceola County is a majority-Democrat area, with 82,696 registered Democrat voters; 60,849 registered Republican voters; and 82,135 registered voters either belonging to a third party or who are unaffiliated, according to the county’s supervisor of elections.

Here’s what to know about each Democratic candidate who is up for the sheriff’s seat this year.

WILEY BLACK - Campaign Website

After serving in the military, Black joined the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office as a patrol deputy. Throughout his 32-year-long career with the OCSO, Black has also served as a field training officer and K-9 deputy.

Later, Black was eventually promoted to sergeant and became the first sergeant assigned to the Osceola County Aviation Unit. In addition, Black assumed the role of sergeant of the Homicide and Violent Crimes Unit, where he worked to solve nearly all of the active homicide cases.

Black holds a master’s degree in criminal justice, with experience overseeing several different units at the OCSO, including financial crimes, major crimes, and SWAT.

When asked why he’s running against his former boss, incumbent Sheriff Marcos Lopez, Black told News 6 the following:

“I think we just have a different opinion as to transparency, experience and ethical leadership. If my career ended today, I’ve had a great career, and I’ve been blessed. I couldn’t ask for better career. But there’s still a lot of people in the sheriff’s office and in our community that have helped me have a great career. Because of them, we work together as a team, and some of the people still at the sheriff’s office have five or 10 years left at the sheriff’s office. And I’m not saying all that, but they deserve somebody.”

Former OCSO Major Wiley Black

LUIS “TONY” FERNANDEZ - Campaign Website

Fernandez graduated from Inter American University in 1994 with an Associate of Arts degree in criminal investigations and a Bachelor of Arts in criminal justice.

Afterward, he became a patrol officer with the Puerto Rico Police Department and eventually worked his way up to a position in the Tactical Surveillance Team, which was focused on corruption involving political figures.

Fernandez moved to Orlando in 2000, working for a small investigative firm. He later moved to Osceola County and served in the sheriff’s office for 14 years, during which time he worked as a road patrol deputy, a field training officer, and a detective.

Nowadays, Fernandez works for the Florida Department of Correction as a law enforcement inspector detective, tasked with investigating criminal and related cases out of state prisons in and around Central Florida.

RUSS GIBSON - Campaign Website

Gibson is a former Osceola County sheriff, having served from 2017 until the end of his term in 2021. He originally ran for reelection in 2020, though he lost to now-Sheriff Marcos Lopez by just over 600 votes.

Gibson began his 32-year-long career in law enforcement with the OCSO in 1987. Throughout the course of his career, he’s worked as a detective in cases involving sex crimes, cyber crimes, homicides, and more.

A key policy he ran on during his prior election was establishing SROs in Osceola County public schools and state-funded charter schools. For the 2024 race, Gibson says he wants to ensure the “proper allocation” of SROs to public schools and once again offer state-funded charter schools the opportunity to have an SRO assigned.

When asked about his previous defeat to Lopez in 2020, Gibson told News 6 the following:

“Losing by 600 votes in an election where two folks figuratively work together to split the vote? I don’t think that was the people of Osceola County saying they didn’t want me here anymore. We did some Innovative things when I was the sheriff. That job isn’t done yet. My call to serve has not expired. So my gas tank is full, and I’m ready to serve and changes needed and Osceola County. That’s why I raise my hand and said, ‘Put me in coach. I’m ready to go.’ You got one term in, has the plan always been to run again? No. It wasn’t. When I lost that election, I was actually out there searching for myself: what was the future going to look like for Russ Gibson?

I went to work in Brevard County. I worked with Wayne Ivey over there. I helped supervise the Animal Care Center over there and saw a whole new role of law enforcement. And while working there, it hit me, like, you know, what I’m supposed to do. ‘Serve the People’ is what I’m all about.”

Former OCSO Sheriff Russ Gibson

MARCOS LOPEZ - Sheriff’s Website

Lopez is the incumbent sheriff, having been sworn in on Jan. 5, 2021.

At 17 years old, Lopez joined the U.S. military and completed 22 years of service. He began his career with the OCSO back in 2003 while serving in the Navy Reserve and after receiving an associate degree in criminal justice.

After becoming sheriff, Lopez implemented a real-time crime center and several new specialty units, including the Tactical Anti-Crime Unit, Osceola County Narcotics Bureau, and a Fugitive Extradition Program with Puerto Rico.

News 6 asked Lopez about his thoughts on his challengers this year — especially former Sheriff Russ Gibson. Lopez responded as follows:

“Well, politics drives the best in people, and sometimes when you take office, people don’t like to change. Obviously, the former sheriff was beaten by us. And then one of the employees wasn’t too happy with the way the department was running. (Major Black) stepped down for other reasons.”

OCSO Sheriff Marco Lopez

AMARYLLIS RIVERA - Campaign Website

Rivera is a 15-year military veteran with nearly 17 years of experience in law enforcement.

While serving in the Air Force Reserves in 2006, Rivera began working with the OCSO as a secretary for the West Patrol Captain. She later joined the West Patrol Community Service Officers, and by 2016, she became the CSO supervisor for the west sector of Osceola County.

As a full-time employee, Rivera received a bachelor’s degree in general studies with a minor in criminal justice administration, as well as an associate degree in logistics.

Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: