Meet Nicholas Edgar & Ken Strickland, candidates for Daytona Beach City Commission Zone 2

Eileen Zaffiro-Kean, Daytona Beach News-Journal
·4 min read

DAYTONA BEACH — The Zone 2 City Commission race is a study in contrasts.

Ken Strickland, the incumbent, is 70 years old. Nicholas Edgar is 20, and a political newcomer. Strickland has raised $8,600 in campaign contributions, and Edgar has put $650 of his own money in his campaign account but hasn't listed any contributions.

Strickland grew up in Georgia, moved to Florida in 1985, and settled in Daytona Beach in 1996. Edgar was born and raised in Iowa, he spent large parts of his summers in Daytona Beach as a child and teenager, and he moved to Daytona Beach two years ago.

Ken Strickland is facing off against Nicholas Edgar for the Zone 2 Daytona Beach City Commission post in the Nov. 5 election. There will be no primary race for Zone 2 Aug. 20 since there are only two candidates.
Ken Strickland is facing off against Nicholas Edgar for the Zone 2 Daytona Beach City Commission post in the Nov. 5 election. There will be no primary race for Zone 2 Aug. 20 since there are only two candidates.

Strickland has had jobs as a maintenance technician for DuPont and a car salesman in Sanford.

In 1995, Strickland opened the Paradise Club, an adult entertainment business on east International Speedway Boulevard in Daytona Beach. He ran that gentlemen's club until 2008, when he retired.

Edgar said he knew from the time he was 7 or 8 years old that he wanted to live in Daytona Beach. He has become an emergency medical technician and says he will be a full-time city commissioner if elected to represent Zone 2 for the next four years.

Zone 2 includes Daytona's beachside from the northern city limits south to International Speedway Boulevard, and the north-central section of the mainland east of Nova Road.

Election day is Nov. 5.

Meet Ken Strickland

Age: 70

Occupation: Retired businessman, full-time city commissioner

Political experience: Elected in November 2021 to finish out the three years left on former Daytona Beach City Commissioner Aaron Delgado's term when he resigned from the Zone 2 post.

What are your top three priorities?

1. "Continue to represent small businesses and the residents."

2. "Continue to strive for unity in Zone 2 and beyond in our city."

3. "If re-elected, in the next four years I want our Main Street to be in the top 10 Main Streets of Florida list."

Three more questions:

  1. Why are you running for the Zone 2 post? "Because I enjoy what I'm doing, and I think our residents deserve to be represented by someone who has a feel for what residents want and have been missing, and that's to be a voice. I consider myself to be a representative of residents, not a leader."

  1. What do you think is the most important issue for Daytona Beach? "Working toward living up to our reputation. As the World's Most Famous Beach for so many years, we let that slide. We don't have the family atmosphere we once did. We lost the rides on the Boardwalk and the mom-and-pop motels on A1A. We've got to be more attractive to family tourism."

  1. What is something about your community you treasure and aim to protect? "I treasure our reputation as the World's Most Famous Beach. I want to work toward being that again."

Meet Nicholas Edgar

Age: 20

Occupation: Emergency medical technician for Volusia County Medical Services

Political experience: First time running for an elected position.

Nicholas Edgar is a candidate for the Zone 2 Daytona Beach City Commission post.
Nicholas Edgar is a candidate for the Zone 2 Daytona Beach City Commission post.

What are your top three priorities?

1. "Public safety will always be No. 1."

2. "Infrastructure and responsible development."

3. "Government transparency."

Three more questions:

  1. Why are you running for the Zone 2 post? "My passion for the city of Daytona Beach has grown and developed. I want to have a part in what Daytona Beach looks like. I want to leave a better community to my children that I'm proud of."

  1. What is a life accomplishment that illuminates the kind of officeholder you would be? "I started my own business at the age of 15. I opened a small shaved ice stand, and over three summers I devoted all my time to it. I had to secure my own investors and employees, and I had to follow government rules. I was told I couldn't do it since I was only 15, but it was a massive success. I put my heart and soul into it 100%."

  1. What is something you would seek to change if you're elected? "The transparency of our government. We need to be more transparent. People need to know where tax dollars are going. The city manager has to notify the city commission of what he's done."

You can reach Eileen at Eileen.Zaffiro@news-jrnl.com

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Daytona Beach's Zone 2 City Commission race is set with two candidates