Election 2022: Volusia County councilman, state senator will face last-minute opposition

Volusia County Councilman Danny Robins came within hours of being re-elected without opposition as Friday's 2022 election qualifying deadline approached.

But Ted Noftall, a former unsuccessful candidate for Port Orange mayor and city councilman, entered the race for Volusia County Council District 3. That had been the only uncontested County Council race, with six of the seven seats — and the balance of power — on the ballot.

That wasn't the only late addition to races of interest in Volusia and Flagler counties in a non-presidential year that will be headlined by races for governor and U.S. senator, as well as all state Legislature seats and many other local races.

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Noftall, a frequent critic of local government spending, said he was driven to run by another reason.

"I am in this race because I am disgusted with the influence developers have with our elected representatives, simple as that," Noftall said, later making reference to tax breaks given to the developers of One Daytona and the Brown & Brown Insurance headquarters projects as well as the county's inaction on impact fees despite a study recommending an increase.

Robins, first elected in 2020, said he's proud of his work on the County Council, including his vote in support of a budget last year that was considered a tax increase under state law, but involved a reduction in the property tax rate from $5.45 per $1,000 of value to $5.38.

"We had a pretty lean budget," Robins said. "As we've grown, the budget goes up and the services go up."

But, he argued, spending for services such as public safety salaries and transportation projects is critical.

Robins will have plenty of opportunity to make his case to voters; of all 17 County Council candidates, he's raised the most campaign money, more than $69,000.

Noftall intends to use that money advantage against Robins, urging voters to scrutinize the sources of that money, which include several businesses associated with influential homebuilder Mori Hosseini.

"You know the old saying," Noftall said. "Money doesn't win elections. Votes win elections. ... It's my intention to make lemonade with those lemons."

State Senate race develops

State Sen. Tom Wright, a Republican who was elected in 2018 following the death of Dorothy Hukill, had been looking ahead at the prospect of only having to face Richard Dembinsky, who frequently runs and just as frequently loses elections.

Dembinsky qualified for the District 8 race earlier this week, but a late entrant challenging Dembinsky for the Democratic nomination will be Andrea Williams, a nonprofit manager from Titusville.

This is her first run for political office.

Williams said she drove to Tallahassee Friday and filed her paperwork. Although she wasn't listed on the Division of Election's website as having qualified as of Friday afternoon, she said she anticipates being on the ballot.

"A lot of things are hitting the average person's wallet and are not being addressed: groceries, rent and housing insurance," Williams said. "I want to be a part of improving things for the people of my community."

Williams said she wants voters to have a choice, especially considering Wright's name wasn't even on the 2018 ballot. Because of Hukill's death in October, the ballots had already been printed with her name on them. A Republican Party caucus determined Wright would be the one to take Hukill's place, and she won the Republican-leaning district.

The newly redrawn District 8 is similar to the district Wright represents now; it encompasses all of southern Volusia and northern Brevard counties.

Wide-open congressional race gets wilder

A late entrant this week into the 7th Congressional District race is Ted Edwards, a former Orange County commissioner.

In a news release, Edwards offered comments similar to what the seven other qualified GOP candidates have offered on fighting inflation cutting spending and securing the U.S.-Mexico border. But he endorsed one idea that many in his party oppose: gun reform.

In a news release, Edwards said he supports mandatory background checks, red flag laws, and discussing a ban on the sale of assault weapons to 18-year-olds.

The release says Edwards, an attorney and businessman, is a "strong supporter of gun rights" but is also a backer of "reasonable changes to address mass school shootings."

He'll be on the ballot along with Erika Benfield, Brady Duke, Cory Mills, Rusty Roberts, Anthony Sabatini, Armando Al Santos and Scott Sturgill.

Three Democrats have also qualified: Hilsia "Tatiana" Fernandez, Karen Green and Allek Pastrana.

Although the seat is currently held by a Democrat, the retiring Stephanie Murphy, it is considered "likely Republican" by the Cook Political Report. The district's boundaries have been moved to include all of Seminole County and the southern half of Volusia County.

2 mayors win re-election

With no opposition emerging, incumbent mayors Nancy Miller of Daytona Beach Shores and Karen Chasez of DeBary won re-election Friday.

The race for Edgewater mayor, featuring 17-year-old Diezel Depew and former Mayor Mike Ignasiak saw a third candidate qualify on Friday: Louis Roland Panico II.

Susan Persis, an Ormond Beach city commissioner, won re-election after being unopposed.

Two Holly Hill commissioners, Penny Currie and Roy Johnson, won re-election without opposition, as did council members Mel Lindauer of Daytona Beach Shores, Phyllis Butlien of DeBary. Linda Hyatt of Oak Hill and Casandra Jones of Orange City won spots on their city commissions.

The primary election is Aug. 23. The general election is Nov. 8.

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This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Late entrants meet qualifying deadline for 2022 Volusia candidates