ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings filed to run for governor last Friday . He is expected to officially announce his candidacy during a rally later Thursday night.

Demings is well-known in Central Florida, but he must convince voters across the entire state that he is the right person for the job. If successful, he would be the first Democrat to win Florida’s governor’s mansion in the 21st century.

“Instead of asking the question ‘what can Demings do to win,’ you have to think about it more as what are the things that have to happen in order to make Demings competitive? I think that list might be getting longer and longer for the Democrats,” University of Central Florida political science professor John Hanley said.

[WATCH BELOW: Demings on running for governor,

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