Could Mayor Jerry Demings Be NASA’s First Mayor in Space?

ORLANDO, Fla. (FNN NEWS) – Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings might just make history yet again. Demings, who’s no stranger to breaking barriers, made a historic proposal to NASA Administrator and former U.S. Senator Bill Nelson: He’d be happy to be the first mayor to go into space. “I would love to be the first mayor astronaut,” he said. While Administrator Nelson and the entire audience attending the final session of the National Association of Counties (NACo)’s Large Urban County Caucus (LUCC) Symposium erupted into laughter, Nelson’s response was even more intriguing.

Nelson angled his head with raised eyebrows and raised everyone else’s eyebrows with his reply: “Be careful what you wish for.”

Mayor Demings is married to former U.S. Representative Val Demings.  In early August 2020, Demings was said to be one of the top contenders to be Joe Biden’s vice-presidential running mate in the 2020 United States presidential election, along with Kamala Harris and Susan Rice.

Friday’s Q&A session capped a three-day symposium that began Wednesday at the Orange County Convention Center and ended at the Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista. The agenda featured interactive information sessions and tours of Orange County venues in which national county government leaders converged to identify urban challenges and solutions through information sessions and national policy discussions.

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Mellissa Thomas is Editor for Florida National News. | mellissa.thomas@floridanationalnews.com