ORLANDO, Fla. (May 23, 2020) – Orange Soil & Water Conservation District Supervisor Daisy Morales filed paperwork Thursday, May 21, 2020 with the Florida Division of Elections to run for State Representative Amy Mercado’s House District 48 seat. Representative Mercado recently filed to run for Orange County Property Appraiser.

The district includes Azalea Park and other south-central Orange County communities, such as Meadow Woods, Taft and Sky Lake. “Representative Mercado has done a great job representing the residents of House District 48 in Tallahassee,” said Morales. “I am running for State Representative to expand upon her work as we move the district and state beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.”

As State Representative for District 48, Morales will focus on:

· Advocating for small businesses and workers’ rights

· Affordable access to quality healthcare, including coverage for mental health and pre-existing conditions

· Protecting Florida’s natural resources and green spaces· Florida agriculture and helping farmers succeed

· Protecting Florida’s most vulnerable populations, especially seniors and the special needs community

For Morales, protecting seniors and the disabled is personal. Morales was caretaker and legal guardian for her sister Diana, who had Down Syndrome and was non-verbal. Diana’s parents were already deceased, she couldn’t work, and she had no spouse. Diana contracted a bedsore while in a nursing home and suffered further, eventually dying, after being transferred to the hospital. Supervisor Morales joined the race for State Representative to ensure what happened to her sister doesn’t happen to anyone else. “One of the bills I will file is to change the Wrongful Death law so it won’t discriminate against people with disabilities,” said Morales. “I want to make sure their siblings have rights to sue when the disabled person’s parents pass away, have no spouse, no children, and no job. I will fight for Diana’s Law to correct the Wrongful Death law.”

Morales was first elected Orange Soil & Water Conservation District Supervisor in 2014 against three opponents, including a current and former board chair (by 83,000 votes). Supervisor Morales was re-elected in 2018 to a second four-year term with 256,000 Orange County votes. As Soil & Water Supervisor, Morales made it a priority to forge strong working relationships with county commissioners and other elected officials, state and federal entities, to serve her constituents. She has worked in partnership with the USDA to secure grant funding for Orange County residents; and the Board partnered with the USDA on a $1 million program to help Apopka nurseries upgrade their water filtration systems with more energy- and water-efficient components to help conserve water being drawn from the aquifer.In partnership with Orange County Commissioners Maribel Gomez Cordero (District 4) and Emily Bonilla (District 5), Morales erected several Soil & Water Conservation District signs along the Orange-Osceola County border, raising environmental awareness for travelers as they pass through Orange County, including one on south Orange Avenue near Mary Louis Lane in District 48.

The 59-year-old Bronx, New York native is of Puerto Rican descent and later moved to Puerto Rico during her teen years. She moved to Orlando in 1989 and has been a resident of Orange County for over 30 years. She retired from the U.S. government after working 24 years for various agencies, including the Justice Department, Department of Homeland Security and State Department.