- January 19, 2025
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Ormond Beach has a new Zone 1 representative.
Lori Tolland, a member of both the Ormond Beach Planning Board and the Leisure Services Advisory Board, was elected to the Ormond Beach City Commission during the primary election on Tuesday, Aug. 23, after having won 55.17% of the vote. Tolland, who has lived in the city since 1989, is a registered nurse at East Coast Surgery Center.
Her opponents, Tim Grigsby and Joseph Valerio, earned 28.25% and 16.57% of the votes, respectively.
When Tolland saw the voting results, she said her "heart jumped."
"That's why we stayed outside in the rain," said Tolland, during her watch party at Houligan's. "And I kept thinking, 'that guy might be the one more vote that puts me over the 50%. At all four of the polling places, I had people still there talking to people to the very end. You have to finish strong, and that's what we did — We finished strong."
Earlier on in the day, as she stood outside the precinct at the Ormond Beach Senior Center, Tolland expressed gratitude for the people helping her during her campaign.
"I've been very lucky with having a lot of people set up at the different polls, so I'm very blessed with their support," she said.
She echoed the same sentiments that evening, adding that she was thrilled and excited to serve the community. Tolland congratulated her opponents, saying they worked hard on their campaigns as well.
"I will always do my best to balance what needs to be done between government and neighbors," she said. "We all want the right things for Ormond Beach."
Of the four Volusia County Council District 4 candidates in the running — Troy Kent, Rob Littleton, Mike McLean and Ken Smith — none earned 50% plus one vote during
the primary.
Per the voting results, Kent, an incumbent Zone 2 Ormond Beach city commissioner, and Smith, a local business owner, will proceed to runoff elections in November. Kent earned 30.17% of the vote; Smith earned 30.85%.
Their other two opponents — Littleton, an incumbent Zone 4 Ormond Beach city commissioner, and McLean, a former Seminole County commissioner — earned 25.78% and 13.21% of the vote, respectively.
Like in District 4, none of the candidates running for the at large seat on the Volusia County Council earned 50% plus one vote during the primary.
Former Port Orange City Manager Jake Johansson earned the most votes — 33.88% — during the primary. He will proceed to the runoff elections against Ormond Beach resident and retired high school teacher Doug Pettit, the candidate who earned the second-highest percentage of the vote with 23.72%.
The other two candidates, former Volusia County employee Sherrise Boyd and former councilman Andy Kelly, earned 20.91% and 21.49% of the votes, respectively.
