Mercedes Fonseca

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Mercedes Fonseca

Nonpartisan

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 8, 2022

Education

High school

Oviedo High School

Bachelor's

University of Central Florida, 2001

Graduate

University of Phoenix, 2009

Personal

Birthplace

Orlando, Fla.

Religion

Christian

Profession

Public servant

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Mercedes Fonseca ran for election to the Orange County Board of County Commissioners to represent District 4 in Florida. She lost in the general election on November 8, 2022.

Fonseca completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Mercedes Fonseca was born in Orlando, Florida. She earned a high school diploma from Oviedo High School, a bachelor's degree from the University of Central Florida in 2001, and a graduate degree from the University of Phoenix in 2009. Her career experience includes working as a public servant for local nonprofits.

Fonseca has been affiliated with the following organizations:

• Lake Nona Rotary Lunch Club
• Lake Nona Regional Chamber of Commerce
• East Orlando Chamber of Commerce
• Indian-American Business Association and Chamber
• Indian American Chamber
• Colombo-American Chamber
• Una Voz en El Desierto
• Avalon Park Kiwanis Club

Elections

2022

See also: Municipal elections in Orange County, Florida (2022)

General election

General election for Orange County Board of County Commissioners District 4

Incumbent Maribel Gomez Cordero defeated Mercedes Fonseca in the general election for Orange County Board of County Commissioners District 4 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Maribel Gomez Cordero (Nonpartisan)	57.6	32,767
		Mercedes Fonseca (Nonpartisan)	42.4	24,157

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 56,924
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Orange County Board of County Commissioners District 4

Incumbent Maribel Gomez Cordero and Mercedes Fonseca defeated Karl Pearson in the primary for Orange County Board of County Commissioners District 4 on August 23, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Maribel Gomez Cordero (Nonpartisan)	47.8	11,837
✔		Mercedes Fonseca (Nonpartisan)	26.4	6,529
		Karl Pearson (Nonpartisan)	25.9	6,407

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 24,773
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Chadwick Hardee (Nonpartisan)

Campaign themes

2022

Video for Ballotpedia

Video submitted to Ballotpedia Released July 25, 2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Mercedes Fonseca completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Fonseca's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Greetings! I am Mercedes Fonseca. I am fluent in both English and Spanish. I am a candidate for Orange

County Commissioner District 4, which encompasses the areas of Avalon Park, Waterford Lakes, Lake Nona and Meadow Woods. I was born and raised locally, a graduate of UCF and hold a Master’s in Business Administration. I am the managing partner of Ascension Consulting Partnerships helping small business owners and residents with local governmental issues such as land use, code enforcement, and permitting. I previously served as chief of staff for a few elected officials. I have extensive experience in local government, non-profit, and the private sector. That experience has given me the unique ability to appreciate and take into account the different challenges that each encountered. My reasons for running include improving the quality of life for residents, supporting and enhancing our public safety, and ensuring fiscal responsibility. Qualities that set me apart from other candidates are my experience, service, and the relationships I have built throughout the years with the community, nonprofit agencies, elected officials, and executives in the private sector. I invite you to look at my web page www.vote4mercedes.com for additional information

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Smart growth to me takes a holistic approach and takes into account a variety of factors to include but not limited to compatibility, predictability, location, existing infrastructure, dominating culture, socio-economic status, and sensitive waterways and/or lands.
• As local government, we would need to work with and provide incentives for developers; expedite permitting process, and review internal procedures that are causing delays for attainable rental units to become available in the market, rehab existing properties, as well as, work to prevent annexation.
• As our community continues to grow and development occurs, we need to be mindful of the sensitive lands/waterways (potentially) impacted and species being affected. Look at innovative/creative ways to preserve green space. While with Orange County, I worked on the purchase of acreage that contained portions of the Econ River. This property will remain preserved and serve as a habitat for biodiversity. Continue to be mindful of wildlife corridors and continue to advocate to set aside funding for purchase of properties.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

While with Orange County, I served on the Community Action Board, which serves the economically disadvantaged. I began working on the 2 Gen Initiative, which is an evidenced based, holistic approach program that removes barriers and helps promote self-sufficiency. My hope would be to partner with our Faith based community. Identify services provided by the County and respective Faith based organization(s). Eliminate duplication of services and instead offer services/programs that are current to the needs of the community. Also, look at tax incentives to rejuvenate areas that are in need of revitalization.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Ethics, transparency and community engagement.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

Results oriented and tenacious leader.

Driven to improve our community by fostering relationships and engaging our community with elected officials, business owners, residents, and faith based organizations.

Informed decision maker.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

Camp Counselor-3 months.

Are there any little-known powers or responsibilities held by this office that you believe more people should be aware of?

This position can place moratoriums on issues that directly affect the communities, due to decisions that have been made without sufficient due diligence.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for holders of this office to have previous experience in government or politics?

Yes. Experience is a vital requirement, in order to be able to effectively advocate for our community.

What kind of skills or expertise do you believe would be the most helpful for the holders of this office to possess?

Communication, knowledge, experience, and relationships.

Tell us your favorite joke.

Why did the phone need glasses? Because it lost all its contacts!

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

See also

2022 Elections

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Candidate

Orange County Board of County Commissioners District 4

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