Real estate broker Sunshine Linda-Marie Grund, 40, is running for Orange County Supervisor of Elections, hoping to break through a crowded field of candidates in the Democratic primary. She is up against former Orange County Democratic Chair Wes Hodge, Orange County School Board member Karen Castor Dentel and attorney Dan Helm. The position has an annual salary of $205,000.

The date of the election is uncertain because Helm is suing independent candidate Cynthia Harris, accusing her of improperly paying her qualifying fee to run and then forging a document to cover it up.

A trial is set for Aug. 13, a week before the Aug. 20 primary. Chief Judge Lisa Munyon of the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court will decide whether Harris should be removed from the ballot and the primary opened to all voters or if the entire race should be held Nov. 5.

Meanwhile, early voting will take place Aug. 5-18, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Check our list for locations. The deadline to request a mail-in ballot is Aug. 8. Ballots must be received by the Supervisor of Elections office by 7 p.m. on Aug. 20.

A question about the job

Grund told VoxPopuli that she grew up in foster care in Minnesota and Florida, bouncing around a host of different families, which gave her a broad-minded perspective on community.

“I was the minority in some of my first families that I lived with,” she said. “They all had different political backgrounds and different jobs. They were firefighters, preachers, stay-at home moms, caretakers, like a full range of different households. It allows you to also see people for who they are and not just the label. It’s given me a lot of unique experiences and understanding of different communities.”

According to her LinkedIn, Grund served part-time for two years in the Minnesota Army National Guard, taught school and worked in nonprofit management before going into real estate. 

She's made two other runs for office. In 2016, she ran unsuccessfully against Buddy Dyer for Orlando Mayor. Two years later, she tried again, running for the District 1 seat on Orlando’s City Council against Tom Keen and Jim Gray. In the aftermath of that loss, she bumped into then-Supervisor of Elections Bill Cowles at a Boy Scouts fundraiser. She said he “planted the seed” that she should try again.

“When I saw he was retiring,” she recalled thinking that supervisor of elections “could be a fit.”

Yet, Grund seems unclear on what the elections supervisor actually does. When VoxPopuli asked her that — a standard question asked of every candidate —there was a long pause, the sound of keyboard typing in the background, then she said, “Safeguard the integrity of our electoral system, enhance public trust in the our institutions and foster a culture of robust citizen engagement.”

The Supervisor of Elections’ home page states, “Our Mission: Ensure the integrity of the electoral process. Enhance public confidence. Encourage citizen participation.”

Asked if she could put those sentiments  in her own words, Grund replied, “I would just see it as accessible, honest and active.”

Then she complained VoxPopuli was “quizzing her” about her knowledge of the Supervisor of Elections.

No money in politics

Grund has said she is not accepting corporate contributions, a result of feeling that corporations “were trying to buy our votes and our voice” when she ran for Orlando City Council. One of her biggest goals, she said, is to remove “money from politics.”

In fact Grund has raised no additional money for her campaign beyond the $12,000 she donated to cover the $11,605.14 qualifying fee and miscellaneous expenses to appear at a League of Women Voters’ forum.

Meanwhile, Castor Dentel’s still has a substantial amount of her $136,896 war chest available as does Wes Hodge, the next highest fundraiser, with nearly $62,000 in contributions.

Voter info

Grund said that if elected, she would like to provide a “menu” of candidates and their positions for voters who are unsure who to vote for. She added that the logistics would still need to be worked through because she doesn’t want these “menus” to be available at the polls.

“I know Orange County could definitely just put up basic information so the citizens have a trusted source of information from the candidates themselves, which should be our trusted, you know, people,” Grund said.

She also wants to see the Supervisor of Elections office get more involved in registering people in the community, though she was light on logistical details.

“Registration, I think, is just being where people are,” she said, “trying to get them registered and active in their community and see the beauty and what’s in it for them and that it’s representation of them.”

In addition, Grund suggested Supervisor of Elections’ staff could more directly inform voters about renewing mail-in ballot requests each election cycle, calling voters to let them know that their requests have expired. (Voter registration forms do collect optional phone numbers.)

After elections, Grund said she would continue the practice of live-streaming the opening of mail-in ballots because of the transparency that adds to the election process.

“It allows the voters to feel that there’s integrity and that their vote is being counted no matter what it is or isn’t,” Grund said.

As for election deniers, Grund said she would “acknowledge their feelings,” but assure voters that Orange County elections are fair and accurate.

[Ed. Note: Election denialism is now a key tenet of the Republican Party. According to States United Action, nearly a third of Congressional lawmakers supported former President Donald Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election or undermined the validity of the election results. In Florida, 18 of Florida’s 30 members of Congress are election deniers as are the Florida Attorney General and Gov. Ron DeSantis. Republican Sen. Marco Rubio would not commit to accepting the results of the election when asked on Meet the Press. And Vice Presidential candidate J.D. Vance, who once warned Republican nominee Donald Trump against lying about election loss, is now all in on election denial.]

“Our interest is making sure that each and every ballot is counted accurately with no special interest, but the best interest of the citizens,” she said. “Our job is to uphold the ballots that were cast and the numbers that were presented,” Grund said.