Election results: Kristin Deaton wins Ormond Beach City Commission Zone 3 race

Ormond Beach Observer
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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.

Sign dispute

Signs criticizing Carl Persis' vote to enforce a mask policy at Volusia County Schools during the COVID-19 pandemic, and ones referring to him and his wife Susan Persis as liberals, have appeared throughout District 4 during the campaign season.

Both signs lack disclaimers on who paid for the political ads. Persis said he believes the signs are political because they were made to influence voters in the election.

"That's the definition of a political sign," he said. "You're either for something or against. Those signs are made to influence voters not to vote for me."

Persis said he intends to pursue the matter legally.

Donna Brosemer's yard signs also lack a disclaimer.

Volusia County Supervisor of Elections Lisa Lewis said in an email to the Observer that candidates are required to have such disclaimers, per the Candidate and Campaign Treasurer Handbook.

Brosemer disagreed, writing to the state's Division of Elections for its clarification on the issue. In an email to the division, she said yard signs are not specifically mentioned in the state statute, implying an exemption.

"Some confusion arises from the later use of the word 'display,' which is not defined," she wrote. "Further, while the statute is very specific about the wording, font size, and other disclaimer requirements in specific kinds of electioneering communication, it is glaringly silent with regard to this form. As a result, one prominent state candidate's disclaimer is in microscopic, blue-on-blue print which is nearly impossible to see, even up close. This makes a mockery of the requirement, and shows how ludicrous its application has become, as candidates have been forced to assume what they are required to do, because of the lack of clarity in statute."

She also stated that her signs do not include a slogan or a request for a vote — only her name and the office she is running for. She said this was a "seemingly petty issue" but one that has generated confusion "as well as frivolous complaints between campaign opponents who are just trying to get media attention."

"In the more than 20 years I ran state campaigns in Florida, we never had to put disclaimers on yard signs for one simple reason: no one can read them as they drive by," she wrote. "They were considered to be the same as large bumper stickers, which are also not required to have a disclaimer. I'm inclined to think that this new interpretation evolved over time, but was never mandated."

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.

Leek wins Republican senate race

Florida Rep. Tom Leek celebrated a victory on Election Night, winning 58.96% of the vote in the Republican primary in the race to represent District 7 on the state senate.

He will face Democratic candidate George Anthony in the Nov. 5 general election.

"There were so many factors that led to this incredible victory, but I truly credit the voters of Senate District 7, who did not fall for the false attacks, hurled by statewide Democrat, personal injury lawyers, who spent millions of dollars trying to influence a local state Senate Republican primary election," Leek said in a press release.

Leek won with 49% of the vote in District 7, which is composed of the northern portion of Volusia County (including Ormond Beach), Flagler County, Putnam County and St. Johns County.

Leek earned 58.96% of the Volusia County vote.

His opponents David Shoar and Gerry James earned 23.78% and 17.26%, respectively, in Volusia. In District 7, Shoar and James earned 27% and 24%, respectively.

"To the people of Senate District 7, as we continue to work toward the November 5th general election, my pledge to you is to represent the conservative values and principles that make Northeast Florida the best place to live, work, play, vacation and raise a family and our state the freest in the nation," Leek said.

"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.