With his splashy campaign launch behind him, the real work begins for Jerry Demings in his quest to be Florida’s next governor.

The Orange County mayor, who kicked off his bid before friends and supporters at an Orlando hotel earlier this month, will spend the next year convincing donors big and small he is the Democrats’ best candidate, building a campaign operation from the ground up, and heading out on the road to meet voters in every pocket of the state.

It will be a steep learning curve for Demings, who has been successful in multiple local races for sheriff and mayor over the last few decades but has never faced a statewide campaign.

“You’ve got to spend a lot of time dialing for dollars, but you also have to do the retail politics of it,” said Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, a Demings

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