- April 25, 2024
-
-
Loading
Loading
After being elected the Zone 1 city commissioner by 12 votes in 2010, James Stowers knew he had his work cut out for him to earn re-election.
BY MATT MENCARINI | STAFF WRITER
Several weeks ago, on the night of a candidate debate, James Stowers, the now re-elected Zone 1 City Commissioner, had a moment with his 5-month-old daughter in the midst of a long campaign.
The day of the debate, Stowers received a negative campaign mailer from his opponent, Alan Burton, whom he beat in the 2010 election by 12 votes.
“That type of misinformation is a stresser,” Stowers said of the mailer. “And I knew I was going to bring it up and set the facts straight at the debate that night. And I remember holding Hannah ... and she was just beaming and smiling.
“And I just said to her, ‘No matter what happens in the debate tonight, I get to come home to you.’ And she was just laughing and smiling. It helped me get through this.”
Stowers won re-election Nov. 6 by 424 votes, he says, because he had two years of work on the City Commission to prove to residents of Zone 1 that he’s responsive and capable of helping Ormond Beach.
Part of proving to voters he was qualified for a second term meant spending time away from his wife, Andraea, and his daughter.
“That’s been the big stress,” he said. “It’s been Andraea goes to Jacksonville with Hannah while I walk weekends (campaigning). Or she has Hannah while I go to this debate or that debate or that meeting.
“So I’ll be happy to get some level of normalcy back.”
Stowers can remember when he was set down a path toward politics. He was 25 and a graduate student at the University of Florida. He attended a community meeting with his father.
A woman sitting next to him and his father was upset he was there without owning a home in the community, something he said he and his father were in the process of doing.
“There was just a lot of venom coming from her, because they did not like students,” he said. “Over the course of the next months, and years, I got on that board. And they saw that not every student was alike, that there were some things I could bring to the table and help out.”
Stowers said the community group even implemented several ideas he suggested during his time there.
Stowers has a master’s degree and law degree from UF. He recently started a law firm, Wright, Casey and Stowers, and plans to open an Ormond Beach office in the coming months.
“He’s very quiet and he’s one that doesn't speak unless he has something to say,” Mayor Ed Kelley said. “And when he has comments or input, he does it with a careful consideration about what he says. He’s very deliberate and thoughtful in his decision making.”
When the issue of sidewalks along John Anderson Drive was brought before the commission, it was Stowers, Kelley says, that helped them push through the controversy and toward a decision.
Stowers walked up and down John Anderson Drive, in the area in question, and spoke with residents about the impact sidewalks would have in their lives.
“He was able to bring back his data about where people stood on John Anderson Drive,” Kelley said. “I don't know of many commissioners who would walk the entire area.”
Stowers said the days and weeks leading up to Election Day, especially after early voting started, were long and often stressful, those 12 votes constantly on his mind.
“I think that set the tone for this campaign,” Stowers said. “(I kept thinking) one more call, one more door, one more mailer, one more of each thing. And that’s stressful. It’s a marathon.”
Stowers said his work continues, because the day after he won re-election, he was due back in the City Commission chambers for a meeting.
