County Council chair race will head to runoff

Ormond Beach Observer
News

Deborah “Deb” Denys and Jeff Brower will face each other again in November as the County Council Chair race heads to a runoff.

Denys had resigned her County Council District 3 seat in order to run for the position of chair.

Brower took the most votes in the three-way nonpartisan primary, winning 44.84% of the vote to Denys’ 40.23%. The third candidate in the race, Gerard Witman, earned 14.93% and will not advance to the general election.

Races with more than two candidates head to a runoff when no candidate earns greater than 50% of the vote. The top two vote-earners will compete in November.

In the County Council District 3 race, Danny Robins won with 55.53% of the vote, while Gary Conroy earned 35.35% and Johan “John” D’Hont earned 9.12%.

The three-way nonpartisan School Board race for the District 2 seat will also proceed to a runoff, as candidate Anita Burnette earned 48.23% of the vote, incumbent Ida Wright earned 38.97 and Andre Grant earned 12.8%.

Will Roberts won the race for tax collector, beating David Santiago 59.97% to 40.03%.

The office of tax collector is a new one in Volusia County: It was necessitated by the passage of Florida constitutional Amendment 10 in 2018.

In the multi-county race for 7th Judicial Circuit Public Defender, Matt Metz won with 38.42% of the vote, while Anne Marie Gennusa earned 32.54% and George Burden earned 29.05%. Because the race is partisan and all of the candidates for the seat were Republicans, Metz won outright and the race will not proceed to the general election.

In the Circuit 7 circuit judge races, Mike Orfinger beat challenger Anna Handy by 55.52% to 44.48% for the Group 6 seat, while Alicia Washington beat Bryan Rendzio 52.18% to 47.82% for the Group 27 seat. The Group 14 race will head to a runoff between Dan Hilbert, who earned 36.91% of the vote, and Joan Anthony, who earned 33.66%. The third candidate in that race, MaryEllen Osterndorf, had earned 29.44%.

Chris Miller beat Nora Hall 58.27% to 41.73% in the 7th Circuit Group 6 county judge race.

CORRECTION: This story has been corrected to reflect that Matt Metz won the 7th Judicial Circuit Public Defender race outright, and the race will not proceed to a runoff.