OVIEDO, Fla. — For Oviedo Mayoral candidate Abraham Lopez, the campaign trail is a family affair.
What You Need To Know
- Lopez is a 7th-grade civic teacher at Westridge Middle School in Orlando
- He's the first person in his family to own a home, and be college-educated
- He decided to run for a mayor after attending city council meetings for a year and hearing citizen concerns
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“Who is the number 1 door knocker in this house?" Lopez asked his daughter Abriana who loves to help him meet new people.
The Lopez family moved to Oviedo about three and a half years ago from New Jersey.
“Oviedo’s about family, about community, and that’s what attracted me," he said.
After serving under former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and other political roles, he never planned to run for office in Oviedo until he started hearing about issues, like traffic on Mitchell Hammock Road.
“We’re not going to use city funds for this, we need our county and we need our state to commit the funding to improve our traffic flow," Lopez said.
He is not against growth, but wants to develop the city in a smarter way. He continued that conversation at a meet and greet in his neighborhood, alongside his family.
A guest asked him about his plans for reducing traffic.
“I think we should no longer be in the business of adding any more development on Mitchell Hammock," he said.
This 7th-grade civic teacher wants everyone to work together on solutions.
“I want everyone watching this to know I want to make you co-author of Oviedo’s future," he said.
The Oviedo mayoral election is on Nov. 2.