Rachel Plakon

Plakon, a 45-year-old Republican incumbent candidate, is running for reelection in District 36 of the Florida House of Representatives. A Lake Mary resident, Plakon owns a real estate investment company and brokerage firm in the area. Before being elected, she was a land specialist for NAI Realvest, a commercial brokerage. 

Plakon has served on the Florida Commission on the Status of Women and was appointed to the Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission, which commemorated 100 years of the 19th Amendment. Her platform includes protecting the rural boundary and increasing teacher pay. 

Plakon has raised $261,625  in campaign contributions and spent $110,132. She self contributed $10. Plakon received $2,500 from Florida Society of Anesthesiologists PAC and $1,000 from Florida Assisted Living Political Action Committee. Learn more

Plakon’s endorsements include Florida Professional Firefighters, Florida Right to Life and BusinessForce. View a full list of endorsements.

Plakon did not submit a video or participate in OCN’s candidate Q&A.

Author

Megan is co-founder and editor-in-chief of Oviedo Community News, the only independent news source for Greater Oviedo and Winter Springs. She oversees editorial content, policy and staff. She attends meetings, sends out the e-newsletter and curates conversations in the community to understand the information gaps that OCN needs to fill. She also works to create partnerships that can strengthen the bond between community and newsroom.

She has served as an award-winning community journalist for more than 20 years, including as associate editor for the East Orlando Sun and a reporter for the Seminole Voice, the Winter Park-Maitland Observer and Orlando Magazine.

In 2024, Megan was named Editor of the Year by the Society for Professional Journalism. With the Central Florida Foundation and Central Florida Public Media, she co-found the News Collaborative of Central Florida, a collective of independent local news outlets and aligned partners working toward a more informed and engaged Central Florida.

She served as treasurer for the Florida Press Club for seven years and has won awards from the Institute for Nonprofit News, the Florida Press Association and the Society of Professional Journalism. Megan holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism (now called the Reed College of Media) at West Virginia University.

Megan also loves yoga, running and playing board games with her family.