2026 Sanford Mayoral Campaign Profile

Charles Davis: 2026 Campaign Record and Questions

Charles Davis campaigned for Sanford mayor on business experience, civic service, responsible growth, infrastructure, transparency, and community involvement. This page archives that public-facing record and the implementation details that remained unanswered.

Review the priorities Review the record

Background

Business and Civic Experience

Davis describes himself as a lifelong Sanford resident and small-business owner. His campaign biography says he opened a Nationwide insurance office in 2004 after receiving his insurance license in 1999. His public civic résumé includes leadership roles with the Sanford Community Redevelopment Agency, Sanford Chamber of Commerce, Seminole County Port Authority, and community organizations.

That experience is relevant to the race. It also makes the public record surrounding his business, board service, campaign claims, and financial disclosures fair material for careful voter review.

Published Campaign

Five Priorities, With Important Details Still Unpublished

Davis's campaign groups its message around City Hall service, infrastructure, responsible growth, transparency, and local opportunity. In public appearances he has also discussed five-day City Hall availability, cutting development-review time, utility repairs, marina operations, and selected growth corridors.

These statements identified what he wanted voters to associate with his candidacy. They did not form a consolidated operating plan showing first actions, project order, costs, funding sources, responsible departments, deadlines, trade-offs, or measurable outcomes.

Priority labels tell voters what a campaign wants to emphasize. An operating plan tells them what happens first, who pays, and how results will be measured.

Financial Disclosure

The Original Filing and August 15 Amendment

Davis's original July 8, 2026 filing marked the primary-income, intangible-property, liabilities, and specified-business sections N/A. An amendment filed August 15 added Charles Davis & Associates as a primary source of income, a SIMPLE IRA, and liabilities to Cogent Bank, Fairwinds Credit Union, and Huntington Bank.

The specified-business section remained marked N/A in the amendment. These differences warrant a clear public explanation. Documenting the changes does not, by itself, establish an ethics violation.

Board and Business Record

A Zoo Insurance Question That Deserves a Documented Answer

The Central Florida Zoo's Form 990 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2019 reported a $259,000 commercial-insurance transaction with Charles Davis & Associates while Davis served as board chair. Separately, WFTV reported in December 2021 that an unnamed insurance agency had received a zoo contract amid concerns about its connection to an unnamed board member and the bidding process.

The available records do not establish a connection between the earlier reported transaction and the 2021 contract, and they do not establish wrongdoing. They do support asking Davis to explain the earlier transaction, including any disclosure or recusal, and whether he or his agency had any role in the separate 2021 contract.

Campaign Record

What Details Remained Unpublished?

  1. A first-100-days plan with responsible departments and measurable targets.
  2. Costs, funding assumptions, project order, and taxpayer or ratepayer effects.
  3. A clear explanation of the original and amended financial disclosures.
  4. Written standards for conflicts, recusals, procurement, and public reporting.
  5. Specific plans for water, sewer, parking, growth, public safety, and the post-CRA budget.