Democrat Tom Keen narrowly defeated Republican Erika Booth by 590 votes in a special election held Tuesday for state House District 35, the seat vacated by former Republican State Representative Fred Hawkins, who resigned in 2023 to take over the position of president at South Florida State College.
Keen received a total of 11,390 votes to Erika Booth’s 10,800, or 51.3% of the vote going to Keen to Booth’s 48.7%. Keen will begin running almost immediately as the seat will be up again for a full 2-year term in November.
Booth conceded the election to Keen after the results were released by Osceola and Orange Counties.
“First, I want to thank my amazing family, the countless friends, new and old, volunteers and campaign staff that helped propel us to this point,” Booth said in a statement. “Obviously, this is not the result we wanted- but I respect the will of the voters. I congratulate Tom Keen on his win and a race well run.”
Erika Booth, known for her educational experience within the Osceola School District and holding two bachelor’s degrees from the University of Florida and a Master of Arts in Elementary Education from UCF, received the A+ Teacher Award from Spectrum News 13, completed the Education Leadership program at Stetson University, and received endorsements from Florida’s Realtors and the Central Florida Hotel and Lodging Association. She is a Kissimmee native, a member of the Silver Spurs Riding Club, and married to Osceola County Commissioner for District 5, Ricky Booth.
“With hearts full of joy and gratitude, I am thrilled to announce that we won the election for Florida House District 35! This victory is not just mine – it’s OURS. Each and every one of you played an important part in making this happen,” Keen posted on his campaign Facebook page Tuesday evening. “A huge THANK YOU to all our supporters, volunteers, and voters who believed in our vision for a better, brighter District 35. Your dedication, hard work, and votes have brought us to this incredible moment.”
Tom Keen, is a Navy Veteran involved in multiple veteran-service organizations working in the aerospace training and simulation industry, has served on the City of Orlando Citizens’ Police Review Board and the Mayor’s Veteran Advisory Council, and was endorsed by Florida Planned Parenthood PAC, and the Orange County Democratic Environmental Caucus. This was not Keen’s first attempt for Florida House District 35. He ran in the 2022 primary but lost to Rishi Bagga, who this time, lost to Keen.
