ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A battle with Orange County is not how Supervisor of Elections Glen Gilzean expected to end his term, but that is where he has landed.

What You Need To Know

  • Supervisor of Elecitons Glen Gilzean sat down with Spectrum News on Monday to discuss his office’s finances

  • Gilzean is releasing his own documents, sharing a document from Orange County showing his spending was approved back in September

  • In a statement, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings shared in part: “Mr. Gilzean claims that the court ruled in his favor, which is false."

Gilzean sat down with Spectrum News on Monday to discuss his office’s finances, a week after the county comptroller released an audit.

He remains adamant that all of his spending was legally within his rights, even the 51% of the budget that was spent within a two-month span.

“If you had said to me that my last couple of weeks in office, was gonna be fighting about, like, scholarships, I would have they said, what are you talking about?” said Gilzean.

The comptroller released a report outlining allegations of improper spending and accounting, including the claim that Gilzean violated Florida statute by spending 51% of his annual budget two months into the fiscal year.

Gilzean is releasing his own documents, sharing a document from Orange County showing his spending was approved back in September.

“We should have never been in this financial situation to begin with,” he said. “The board of county commission approved my spending plan on September 10. The accusation from the mayor, comptroller, and certain county commissioners are flat out lies.”

However, Orange County leaders maintain that despite that, Gilzean was still required to spend funds according to the approved budget and instead spent over $5 million in unbudgeted donations not approved by the board.

Spectrum News heard from comptroller Phil Diamond last week after he addressed the board, saying he wants to see a nonprofit that received the money to give the funds back.

“He has a right to cancel the contract. I’m glad the contract says that. And it’s, you know, it’s something he has to do. And if he doesn’t do it, the next supervisor can do it, but that’s a lot of money,” Diamond said.

As for Gilzean, he says it’s his own decision.

“Part of the mission of this office is to engage in voter education, voter outreach, working with organizations such as the Central Florida Foundation allows us to achieve the mission of this office.” 

As far as overspending, Gilzean says he did not do that, claiming his spending is on par with other counties. He said it is the county that is in the wrong, which he shared was proven by a judge who allowed his lawsuit against the county to stand. That lawsuit was filed after the board of commissioners voted to withhold funding.

“They illegally withheld funds from an independent constitutional office for some political motivated witch-hunt, and I don’t understand why, but we need to make sure that the public is aware that this this cannot happen,” said Gilzean. “When you appropriate the funds, you have to let this independent office actually um, do the work of the people for the mission of the office. And that’s exactly what we did.“

However, the county disagrees. In a statement, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings shared in part: “Mr. Gilzean claims that the court ruled in his favor, which is false. The truth is the court has simply ruled the lawsuit may continue, and the county has until January 7 to respond to his complaint. The fact of the matter is that Mr. Gilzean has not won a victory but, rather, has lost in court during every step in this process so far.”

Per a judge, the comptroller will need to give his response on Jan. 2 and the county will give its response five days later. Gilzean’s last day in office will be on Jan. 6.

Read Deming's full statement to Spectrum News:

“The Supervisor of Elections issued a news release today that contained several false statements.

The investigative report from the Orange County Comptroller shows that it is Mr. Gilzean who has broken the law. As I have stated, this is not about partisan politics but right versus wrong and lawful versus unlawful.

Without approval from the County Commission, Mr. Gilzean recklessly misspent more than five million dollars of the people’s money, mostly on scholarships and grants unrelated to the November election and not specified in his budget. Mr. Gilzean also spent over 51% of his budget within the first two months of the fiscal year. It is Mr. Gilzean’s actions that have caused him to be in the position that he is in today.

Mr. Gilzean claims that the court ruled in his favor, which is false. The truth is the court has simply ruled the lawsuit may continue, and the county has until January 7 to respond to his complaint. The fact of the matter is that Mr. Gilzean has not won a victory but, rather, has lost in court during every step in this process so far. In the latest ruling, Judge Luis Calderon wrote the “…Petitioner’s ‘Motion for Reconsideration of the Briefing Schedule in the Alternative Writ of Mandamus’ filed on December 16, 2024, is DENIED.”  (See attached order.)

As a result of Mr. Gilzean’s actions, the Board of County Commissioners decided to step in and ensure that his employees are paid during the holiday season because it’s the right thing to do. Mr. Gilzean’s own comptroller said in a sworn affidavit provided to the court that the Supervisor of Election’s bank accounts have a net cash position of negative $782,479.86. I am certain the public would agree that couldn’t have happened without mismanagement of funds.

If he had focused on the real roles of his office, he would have been able to pay his employees. Instead, the county has had to make paying his employees a priority. Mr. Gilzean’s irresponsible actions have diminished the stature of the Office of the Supervisor of Elections.”