- September 17, 2024
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Carl Persis has campaigned many times over the past 30 years as he ran for different local and state offices. But this year's race, in which he seeks reelection to the Volusia County School Board, has been the nastiest, he said.
"It's shocking because this is a School Board race," Persis said. "It's a non-partisan School Board race, and usually you think of these things happening maybe with national politics or high-level state politics. I have never seen anything like this, even in a County Council race or County chair race. It's taken it to a new, low level."
On Monday, Sept. 2, Persis filed a report with the Ormond Beach Police Department after six of his signs were vandalized, with damages totaling $300. A sticker was placed over his mouth, containing the phrase "You suck," or "Be Yourself, you suck." When the stickers were removed, it also removed the paint underneath.
Then, on Wednesday, Sept. 4, a political sign for his wife — City Commissioner Susan Persis, who is running for Ormond Beach mayor — was also vandalized, this time with black spray paint over her photo. Replacing the sign will cost around $75.
These incidents come after signs, containing no political disclaimers, popped up around town prior to the Aug. 20 primary election, criticizing Carl Persis' vote to enforce a mask policy at Volusia County Schools during the COVID-19 pandemic and one that labeled the couple as liberals.
"It's just shocking to me that people are so hateful," Susan Persis said. "That they're sneaking around in the dead of the night to do something like that. I don't understand it."
The mayoral race is also non-partisan.
Carl is a Democrat and Susan is a Republican. She changed her political party once she decided to run for mayor last year. Or rather, she said, changed it back — she had been registered as a Republican for 20 years, before switching to an independent voter. She registered as a Democrat when Carl ran for the Florida House in 2002.
Why? She wanted to vote for her husband.
"Then I just stayed a Democrat, because I typically just vote for the person that I like — doesn't matter the party," Susan said. "I vote for the person, no matter what their political party is."
When she decided to run for mayor, she decided to revert back because her values aligned more with the Republican party. Susan described herself as a moderate Republican.
"When you're a commissioner or a mayor, potholes don't have Rs or Ds," Susan said. "Ordinances and zoning — it doesn't matter if you're an R or D. We deal with the public. We deal with people. It doesn't matter who they are, what their background is, what their race or political party is. We deal with each person fairly and in a very positive and kind manner, and I just find this extremely unsettling that it's happening in our beautiful city of Ormond Beach."
School Boards have been a contentious office to hold and run for since the COVID-19 pandemic, during which parental rights groups, such as Moms for Liberty, pushed back against mask mandates. The group's initiative to remove some books from shelves for sexually-explicit and obscene content has also been an ongoing dispute.
Carl was one of three votes on the School Board that approved making mask mandatory for students, with a medical opt-out, in 2021, a decision that contradicted the governor's executive order prohibiting mask mandates in schools.
"It's just one thing after another that seems to have created this animosity toward Susan and me," Carl said. "We just don't understand because we certainly never said anything negative or mean in any way about either of our opponents."
Susan is running for mayor against Jason Leslie, a local businessman. The seat is open, as current Mayor Bill Partington is seeking to be elected to the Florida House.
Susan said it's disconcerting that some are trying to make the race partisan.
"The hate that's out there is very unsettling to me," she said. "I don't feel like Carl and I have ever done anything to anyone to deserve such hateful behavior, ever."
Who would vandalize or remove their signs?
"That's a good question, 'Who's going to benefit?" she said. "Well, the answer is quite obvious."
Carl, the incumbent School Board member, is running against former lobbyist Donna Brosemer, who has the governor's endorsement for the race. In 2023, Gov. Ron DeSantis identified 14 school board members he wished to remove from office in a meeting with House Speaker Paul Renner, Moms for Liberty and Education Commissioner Manny Diaz. Carl was among the 14.
All of his signs that were vandalized were put on privately-owned property, meaning that whoever placed the signs also trespassed, Carl said.
Sign mischief isn't uncommon — every campaign, there's reports and sightings of people taking signs down, or moving them. But, Carl said, he hasn't seen it get to the level of defacing signs.
"Who is steeping that low to want to do something like that?" he said. "... Susan and I hope that our opponent will put a stop to it."
