[2] Segal started off as the frontrunner, raising vastly more money than his opponents combined, benefiting from independent expenditures from a business-affiliated campaign group,[3] and winning support from much of the county's political establishment.

[2] Though Stewart raised little money,[4] she launched an "aggressive" and "progressive campaign,"[5] focusing on her support for environmental causes, improving public transportation, LGBT rights, and ethics reform.

"[7] Segal's campaign manager, Eric Foglesong, had spoken with State Attorney Lawson Lamar's office about Fernández, and was listed as a "confidential source" in court records.

[9] Finally, Jacobs focused on ending the "good ol' boy network" that she said had long run Orange County and scared off businesses looking to relocate to the region.

"[6] Though it did not make an endorsement in the race, the Florida Democratic Party campaigned against Jacobs, attacking her for being a "lobbyist" and for "spen[ding] her career working against us for special interests" and linked her to former president George W. Bush and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

[17] On racial issues, Jacobs argued that Segal misrepresented her record and pointed to her work improving quality of life in Tildenville, a small African-American community.

"[19] Stewart attacked Segal's environmental record, his pushes to "put urban development into rural settlements," and his "extremely poor judgment in attending lavish 'men-only' cocktail parties funded by lobbyists.