Tramont leading Port Orange City Council race

Ormond Beach Observer
News

The Port Orange City Council is not likely to see a change in leadership as Chase Tramont leads the polls with 57.6% of the vote to continue to represent District 2 over opponent retired public health chemist Sarah Jones in the primaries as of 7:55 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 28.

Preliminary results showed Jones just behind Tramont with 42.4% of the vote.

Tramont, a United States history teacher at Spruce Creek High School, said he is humbled and honored. Tramont won Mayor Don Burnette's seat and served for two years. His new term will be four years.

He said fiscal responsibility and sustainability will be his main priorities.

"Being mindful of the difference between our wants and needs, making sure we live within our means as a city, while still providing the best quality of life this county has to offer," Tramont said. "I will continue to implement solutions to relieving traffic and congestion on Dunlawton Avenue and address flooding issues Port Orange will continue to face."

He said he also will enjoy working alongside his colleagues on City Council.

"This election demonstrates that residents of Port Orange are genuinely pleased with the direction our city is going in and the cohesion of this council," he said. "We're on opposite sides of some issues, but we agree to disagree."

In District 1, incumbent Pat Patterson earned 30.9% of the vote, lagging slightly behind candidate Barbara Girtman who led the race with 33% of the vote. Behind them was candidate Jeff Brower with 26.5%.

District 5 will likely continue to be represented by Fred Lowry, as he led with a preliminary vote count of 55.6%.

None of the Ormond Beach-based candidates for Congressional District 6 in the Democratic or Republican race gained a majority of the vote in Volusia County. Candidate and former mayor Fred Costello fell behind John Ward with 31.3% of the Volusia vote. In the Democratic race, Nancy Soderberg led the preliminary vote count in Volusia County with 52.7%.

Incumbent and School Board Chair Linda Cuthbert led the School Board Member District 3 race with 51.9% of the vote. Candidate John Nelson was the next popular candidate with a 24.9% of the vote.

The Volusia County Council might see a former sheriff take the dais as candidate Ben Johnson leads the At-Large race, as unofficial results of the primaries showed that he held 66.4% of the vote at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 28.

Johnson's opponent, Rev. Ronald Durham accounted for 33% of the vote in the nonpartisan race. Three-hundred-and-fifty people wrote in their own candidate.

The race for Circuit Judge, Group 15, was almost a three-way tie in Volusia County. Assistant State Attorney led the Volusia vote with 34.6% of the vote. Preliminary results showed Sebrina Slack hot on his heels with 34.1%

In the County Judge, Group 5 race, incumbent Judge Dawn "Pam" Fields led the race with 61.9% of the Volusia Vote.

Here is a compilation of all the results.

2018 Primary Election results — Volusia County

(Numbers will be updated as released by the Volusia County Department of Elections. You can also visit http://www.volusiaelections.org for by-the-minute results.)