VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – The race for Volusia County Council chair will go to a runoff in November after incumbent Jeff Brower won the most votes, but not enough to win the race completely.
Brower faced three opponents, all with a long history in the Volusia community. In the end, Brower got 42.1% of the vote, while Randy Dye got 27.72% of the vote.
The winning candidate must get over 50% of the vote to win the election outright, so Brower and Dyer will advance to a runoff election in November.
Votes
%
Jeff Brower*
Randy Dye
Deborah "Deb" Denys
Don Burnette
(143 / 143)
Deborah Denys got 17.38% of the vote, while Don Burnette got 12.8%.
News 6 met with all four candidates to ask them why they chose to run and what their top priorities are.
[RELATED: Everything on the Volusia County ballot for the Aug. 20 election | Florida election voting guide]
JEFF BROWER — Incumbent
Why did you choose to run again?
“I have three major things that I want to accomplish. Really, what I set out to do when I first ran, but we have tremendous issues with the way we’re developing, with overdevelopment, the flooding that it’s causing, and tax increases that it requires. We’ve got taxes down – if the council passes it.
“When I travel around the county, that’s what I hear from everybody – just too much development, too fast, too much flooding in neighborhoods. We have to work. We’re making progress but government moves slow, and it’s hard to get stuff done in four years. There are big things that I want to do but we’re really close. The best way to get those big things done is if the people of Volusia County will elect me in the primary, 50% plus one vote, but more than that, elect me with record numbers.”
What sets you apart from the other candidates?
“I’m just, a regular guy. It’s a grassroots campaign. We don’t have a lot of money. We’ve got a lot of support from just the working public in Volusia County and I will represent everybody, I want to represent every person in the county. We need to bring people together. I’m the people’s candidate.”
DON BURNETTE - Mayor of Port Orange
Why did you choose to run?
“I’ve been mayor here in Port Orange the last eight years, and it has been the joy of a lifetime. I would not leave it, except I’m still trying to figure out why I have term limits and Congress doesn’t but I do. I’ve lived here all my life, I’ve grown up here, and I feel like in Port Orange, we found a way to get people to work together. I would like to bring that spirit, people working together and getting on the same page, and being goal-oriented and do the things that we need to do to make Volusia County great. Similar to the way we’ve done it here in Port Orange.”
What sets you apart from the other candidates and what are your top priorities if elected?
“I think it’s important to know that experience matters. We’ve had it before in county chair races where we’ve elected people who have never done the job before, and it is very difficult. Even the best people — there’s a learning curve and Volusia County can’t afford that learning curve. We’ve got serious problems with beach erosion. We’ve got serious problems where we’re not acquiring land the way we need to for preservation. We’ve got problems with our ambulance service, things like that that we need to be able to address. We’re growing our budget. we grew the general fund by 11% last year. What are we getting for our dollars? We need to be able to address that from day one.”
DEB DENYS - Realtor and former Volusia County Council and School Board member
Why did you choose to run?
“About a year and a half ago, I was asked if I was going to run again and had a meeting with some folks, and I said ‘no,’ and I meant it at that point. But as the election season went on and issues came up and I stayed engaged with our community, serving like I always do on different boards and meeting with groups, it kept being proposed to me. At the final meeting, there was an issue that I helped somebody with, and they said, ‘We sure wish you were still back in that council,’ and I said, ‘What if I was?’ That’s when I got in at the last minute. The last week of qualifying and I knew what I was getting into. There were already three candidates that have been in over a year and a half at that point.
“But I am committed enough to Volusia County and representing our citizens that I wrote my own check to qualify. I’m putting my money where my beliefs are because I truly believe Volusia’s best days are yet ahead. In fact, I’m headed to Tallahassee because I serve on the state Board of Florida Communities Trust, which is responsible for all the Florida Forever money. I’ve been appointed by Gov. DeSantis, so I’ll be heading to Tallahassee to represent Volusia County in the state of Florida.”
What sets you apart from the other candidates and what are your top priorities if elected?
“Issues come and go in every campaign and a lot of issues any candidate campaigns on are already the issues of the day. But there’s going to be new issues that come up when you’re in office that have yet to even be identified most of the time. That goes to leadership and that’s why I was asked to get in this, because this chair’s race in Volusia County is about leadership and being able to lead from the dais and build collaboration, not just with your council and other electees, but our cities and our other agencies. That’s been lacking for quite a while. I hope to bring up that leadership and all those life skills that I currently have and still serving our community and multiple boards and nonprofits back to the dais in Volusia County.”
RANDY DYE – Auto dealership owner and philanthropist
Why did you choose to run?
“I’ve been here since 1982, and, fortunately, a lot of people have focused on helping me develop as a person, as a businessperson, and as a community leader. For me, this is an extension of that – I’m signed up, ready to go, and want to get to work. When you have tasted the American dream, and I have done that in Volusia County: I didn’t know for sure what that meant, what the American dream was all about. I just was told if you work hard and you keep yourself busy, you’re doing the right stuff, then you’ll get to understand a little bit about what the American dream is. Volusia County has provided that to me, and I want to make sure that we are able to provide the same opportunity for everybody else. I think that my 42 years here now with experience have made this the right time, have made me ready, understanding what needs to be, how you need to be compassionate at the same time, and how you need to be businesslike when you’re trying to manage a $1.2 billion budget.”
What sets you apart from the other candidates and what are your top priorities if elected?
“Having been here since 1982, this county is a lot different now than it was then. I feel, and the voters have told me, they’re kind of over the chaotic development and it does feel that way. It feels very chaotic. Some of it was explosive growth when COVID came, and a lot of people came from the North to the South. We were open – they were closed. But that doesn’t mean you can use that as an excuse. You’ve got to figure out how to manage that and so number one would be to make sure that we bring some level of management to that chaotic growth.
“Secondly is public safety. In my view, nothing else matters unless we are safe as a community. You should be able to go to the grocery store and feel safe. You should be able to go to church and feel safe. You should be able to go shopping and feel safe. The world has changed. The world is different than it was several years ago. Our public safety, in Volusia County, they’re phenomenal. They’re great people. They do a great job. But we’ve got to make sure we support them, and we have to make sure we support them so that they support us and keep us safe. I have no political aspirations beyond this, but this position. I don’t want to be a state senator or a state representative, or a U.S. Senator or U.S. House of Representatives. This is where I live, and I think what’s different about me entering the race is I’m the only non-politician that’s entering the process. What I really want to bring is a business approach to this office, and not so much a political process.”
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