- December 24, 2024
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Kristin Deaton campaigns for office at the corner of Tymber Creek Road and West Granada Boulevard. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Kristin Deaton campaigns for office at the corner of Tymber Creek Road and West Granada Boulevard. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Randy Dye campaigns for office in downtown DeLand on Election Day. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Randy Dye campaigns for office in downtown DeLand on Election Day. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Barbara Bonarrigo campaigns for office at Calvary Christian Church on Election Day. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Carl Persis campaigns for office at Providence Church on Election Day. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Don Burnette campaigns for office at Crane Lakes Golf and Country Club on Election Day. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Sarah Marzilli campaigns for office at Calvary Christian Church on Election Day. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Donna Brosemer campaigns for office at Calvary Christian Church on Election Day. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Jeff Brower campaigns for office at the Sanborn Center in DeLand on Election Day. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Ormond Beach — you have a new City Commissioner for Zone 3.
Three candidates — mortgage sales manager Kristin Deaton, retired manufacturing company CEO Barbara Bonarrigo and pool company owner Daniel Dragone — were running for the open seat, to be vacated by City Commissioner Susan Persis as she runs for mayor.
Deaton, who will serve a two-year term, won the Zone 3 race in the primary election on Tuesday, Aug. 20, earning 51.96% of the vote. Bonarrigo earned 32.32% of the vote, and Dragone earned 15.71%.
Deaton told the Observer that she was speechless after her win.
"I'm still absolutely in shock," she said. "It feels great though. It feels great to have the community come out and support you — the community that you grew up in come out and support you. That speaks volumes. I'm so happy for that."
She was in the audience of the City Commission meeting that night when polling results started flooding in, leaving her in tears once all the votes for the two precincts for her race were counted. She received a total of 1,389 votes out of the 2,673 counted.
"It was a relief," Deaton said. "We've worked so hard. I've got a husband, I've got children and a full-time job and everything was on the back burner for this race."
She was praying to earn enough votes during the primary to win the election without going to a runoff in November. She thanked the community for her support.
"This just goes to show that every vote matters and the city elections truly matter,'" Deaton said.
The Zone 3 race was the only commission race included in the primary election ballot. The mayoral race — between Persis and local businessman Jason Leslie — will be decided on Nov. 5. City Commissioners Lori Tolland, Travis Sargent and Harold Briley were reelected to a two-year term without opposition after the end of the qualifying period in June. All three were first elected in 2022.
Two local races are headed to a runoff election in November: Volusia County School Board District 4 and Volusia County Council chair.
The race to represent District 4 is between incumbent School Board member Carl Persis and challenger Donna Brosemer. Persis earned 39.60% of the vote; Brosemer, a former lobbyist earned the majority of the vote, with 43.73%. Marzilli, an art teacher at Pine Trail Elementary, earned 16.67% of the vote.
Brosemer called the election a "David and Goliath primary" and said she was very excited about the outcome.
"The voters in the primary are usually the most committed, most educated," she said. "They're the ones who pay the closest attention and I think it telsl us that the district is ready for a change."
Brosemer said she and her campaign are aiming to broaden their message to reach more voters in the general election. She thanked her supporters, saying she appreciated their confidence. Brosemer received 9,598 votes, which was 907 more than Persis.
Persis said he remains excited for the election and that he plans to still be on the School Board come November.
"There were a lot of factors in play here," he said. "I think that the fact that there were three of us and two of us ... were educators, I think we took votes from each other."
Persis said he holds a lot of respect for Marzilli, and that his campaign plans to regroup and push forward to the general election.
"More than 50% of the voters voted for educators, and I believe in November that will also hold true," Persis said.
Incumbent Volusia County Council Chair Jeff Brower led the polls with 42.1% of the vote. He will head to a runoff against challenger Randy Dye in the general election.
The morning after the election, Brower said it felt really good to receive the majority of votes.
"It's always good to come out on top," he said. "Of course, it would have been my preference to win the whole thing last night with 50% of the vote plus one other vote, and just allow me to get right back to work, doing the people of Volusia County's business, but with four people in the race, the arithmetic is pretty difficult to do that, so we are very thankful for the 42% of the vote."
His victory celebration included a campaign meeting, he said. The primary election also took place on a day with a County Council meeting that started at 4 p.m., which put more pressure when results started coming in at 7 p.m. He saw them from the dais.
From now until the general election, Brower said he will focus on reaching voters countywide who didn't participate in the primary, which had a low voter turnout.
The primary election, Brower said, felt like a midterm exam.
"Now we have the final exam in November," he said. "Thank you for everyone who supported me. To those that didn't, I look forward to talking to you and finding out why."
Dye, a former race car driver who owns two car dealerships in Daytona Beach, earned 27.72%.
Dye said the results were close to what he expected with a four-person race, and one with three candidates who have been in the political arena for several years.
"I had the biggest hill to climb, I believe, and we're very pleased with the level of support, our volunteers," Dye said. "I'm actually very humbled by how much effort our team put in and how many people we've already reached. We need the time, so we're grateful that we get to run the next couple of months and take the case to all those that voted this time, plus the more and the substantially more that will vote in November."
Dye thanked his supporters and said he believes come November, the vote will be an easier decision for voters, as there will only be two names on the ballot.
"I think what you're going to see is people who have a passion for our community, both of us, but obviously going to be different ways to go about addressing the challenges and the opportunities that we have," Dye said.
Port Orange Mayor Don Burnette and former Volusia County Councilwoman Deb Denys earned 12.8% and 17.38% of the vote, respectively. In his Facebook page, Burnette – whose final term on the Port Orange City Council will conclude in December — thanked his supporters.
"Well, after 15 months of campaigning, it is finally over," he wrote. "It did not go quite the way we wanted it to, but we put in the hard work and I am proud of everyone who helped. I appreciate all the support, and we will see what the future holds."
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
