{"id":75802,"date":"2026-08-06T18:08:56","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T22:08:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=75802"},"modified":"2026-08-06T18:09:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T22:09:10","slug":"lakeland-politics-in-the-park-meet-local-candidates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2026\/08\/06\/lakeland-politics-in-the-park-meet-local-candidates\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakeland Politics in the Park: Meet Local Candidates"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Lakeland Chamber of Commerce is hosting its signature civic engagement event, <strong>Politics in the Park<\/strong>. The non-partisan forum connects community members directly with candidates running for local, legislative, and statewide offices ahead of the primary election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This year\u2019s Politics in the Park will be held at the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/aceedu.org\/venues\/event-spaces\/skylight-hangar-hangar-a\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Skylight Hanger at Sun \u2018n Fun<\/a>&nbsp;on Aug. 12.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" data-dominant-color=\"5c4b70\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"576\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1110px) 100vw, 1110px\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Pic-3-768x576-1.webp?resize=768%2C576&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-75803 not-transparent\" style=\"--dominant-color: #5c4b70; width:421px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Pic-3-768x576-1.webp?w=768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Pic-3-768x576-1.webp?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Political Forum (6:00\u20137:30 p.m.), Community Networking&nbsp;(7:30\u20138:00 p.m.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>What to Know About the Event<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Host &amp; Event Details:<\/strong> Presented by the <a href=\"https:\/\/web.lakelandchamber.com\/events\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Lakeland Chamber of Commerce<\/a> in partnership with Orlando Health Watson Clinic and Lakeland Highlands Hospital.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Public Access:<\/strong> The public portion of the event includes an organized candidate forum followed by community networking.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Straw Poll:<\/strong> Attendees can participate in a non-binding straw poll conducted on-site by local election staff to gauge voter sentiment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As of Aug. 6, confirmed campaigns attending include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Jay Collins for Florida Governor<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Deva Simmons for U.S. Representative, District 18<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ed Pope for U.S. Representative, District 16<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Colleen Burton for Florida Senate, District 12<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Jennifer Kincart Jonnson Campaign for Florida House of Representatives, District 49<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Jennifer Canady for Florida House of Representatives, District 50<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Hilary Holley for Florida House of Representatives, District 51<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Omar Arroyo for Polk County Commissioner, District 4<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Rick Wilson for Polk County Commissioner, District 2<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Kelly Quinn for Polk County Commissioner, District 2<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Victor Sims for Polk County School Board, District 3<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Kate Wallace for Polk County School Board, District 3<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Kay Fields for Polk County School Board, District 5<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sam Neelam for Polk County School Board, District 5<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Justin Sharpless for Polk County School Board, District 6<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Chris Spath for Circuit Court Judge Group 23<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Andrea DeMichael for Circuit Court Judge Group 24<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Candice Dixon for Circuit Court Judge Group 24<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Per Lakeland Chamber of Commerce<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Official Voter &amp; Election Resources<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For official voting logistics, district information, or registration checks, consult trusted election services:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Voter Status &amp; Local Logistics:<\/strong> Visit the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.polkelections.gov\/240\/2026-Primary-Election\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Polk County Supervisor of Elections 2026 Primary Information<\/a> portal to check your voter status, review sample ballots, or locate early voting centers and precinct details.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Statewide Information:<\/strong> Check the <a href=\"https:\/\/dos.fl.gov\/elections\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Florida Division of Elections Portal<\/a> for state regulations, candidate filings, and voting guidelines across Florida.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Lakeland Chamber of Commerce is hosting its signature civic engagement event, Politics in the Park. The non-partisan forum connects community members directly with candidates running for local, legislative, and&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":75803,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","default_image_id":71799,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyNlwvMDhcL1BpYy0zLTc2OHg1NzYtMS53ZWJwP2ZpdD03NjglMkM1NzYmc3NsPTEiLCJ0eHQiOiJMYWtlbGFuZCBQb2xpdGljcyBpbiB0aGUgUGFyazogTWVldCBMb2NhbCBDYW5kaWRhdGVzIiwidGVtcGxhdGUiOiJkb2lzIiwiZm9udCI6IiIsImJsb2dfaWQiOjE2MzA0MDY2MX0.F8pI55faEz3BQizE1BWBUqi3XJW4AR41ig4FS1AQNKIMQ"},"version":2,"media_source":"sig","attached_media":[{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/jetpack.com\/redirect\/?source=sigenerate&query=t%3DeyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvbGFrZWxhbmRnYXpldHRlLmluZm9cL25ld3NcL3dwLWNvbnRlbnRcL3VwbG9hZHNcLzIwMjZcLzA4XC9QaWMtMy03Njh4NTc2LTEud2VicCIsInR4dCI6Ikxha2VsYW5kIFBvbGl0aWNzIGluIHRoZSBQYXJrOiBNZWV0IExvY2FsIENhbmRpZGF0ZXMiLCJ0ZW1wbGF0ZSI6ImRvaXMiLCJmb250IjoiIiwiYmxvZ19pZCI6MTYzMDQwNjYxfQ.V7i_EEWADVaRlwrFteR1Dng5BbpLHGQSmABr8d-pMNoMQ","type":"image\/jpeg"}]},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[15],"tags":[15759,105,15369,15758,15760,3212,15398],"class_list":["post-75802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-florida-primary-election","tag-lakeland-chamber-of-commerce","tag-lakeland-events","tag-lakeland-politics","tag-local-candidates","tag-politics-in-the-park","tag-polk-county-elections"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75802"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75802\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75804,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75802\/revisions\/75804"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}