Linda Chapin

Who is Linda Chapin?

Linda Welch Chapin, a Florida politician, was the first chairman of the Orange County Commission and an unsuccessful candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives.

The former Linda Welch received her early education at the Old Greenwich School in Greenwich, Connecticut and eventually studied political science and journalism at Michigan State University.

Linda met her future husband Bruce E. Chapin at Walt Disney's "It's a Small World" attraction at the 1964 World's Fair in New York City. They moved to Orlando, Florida, where she joined both the local chapters of the League of Women Voters and the Junior League. Then, when their children were old enough to attend school, she took a job at a downtown bank, a position that expanded her contacts amongst the city's power brokers.

In 1985, Chapin was selected by the Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce to head their "Project 2000," an effort to set millennial goals for the city in the areas of economic development, the arts, and transportation. As this project came to an end, her district's incumbent county commissioner retired and she ran a successful campaign to win his open seat.