Special primary September 20 for Senate District 1 vacancy

The following article was published in the Daytona Beach News Journal on September 6, 2011: 

Special primary Sept. 20 for Senate District 1 vacancy

If you just can’t wait until the 2012 elections to get your civic involvement fix, there’s hope, at least if you live in state Senate District 1.

With Democrat Tony Hill resigning to take a job as director of federal policy in the Jacksonville mayor’s office, there will be a special primary Sept. 20 followed by a special general election Oct. 18 to fill the final year of his term. (Hill would have been precluded by term limits from running again in 2012).

Four Jacksonville Democrats qualified for the primary, including former state representatives Terry Fields and Audrey Gibson. The others are Ramon Day and Leandrew Mills III. The winner of the primary will face write-in candidate Andrea Austin, who’s also from Jacksonville.

That city’s voters account for more than three-quarters of the district’s rolls. But District 1 stretches down to take in parts of five counties, including about 4,200 voters in the western half of Flagler County and nearly 19,000 voters in parts of Ormond Beach and Daytona Beach in Volusia County.

The rest of you will have to wait until 2012. Looking ahead, here’s a list of candidates who have registered to run in local races:

· Volusia County Sheriff: Steve Beres; Wendell Bradford.

· Volusia Supervisor of Elections: Andy Kelly.

· Volusia County Chair: Carl Persis.

· Volusia County Council District 1: Terry Dilligard.

· Volusia County Council District 2: Tyrone Brown; Josh Wagner.

· Volusia County Council District 3: Jim Hathaway.

· Volusia County Council District 4: Thomas Blawn; Jennifer Hammack; Damien Richards; Jay Young.

· Flagler County Supervisor of Elections: Trey Corbett.

· U.S. House District 3: LeAnne Kolb (R); Mike Yost (R).

· U.S. House District 7: Billy Kogut (R); Vipin Verma (D).

·  U.S. House District 24: Nicholas Ruiz (D).

· State Attorney: R.J. Larizza (R).

· Public Defender: Jim Purdy (R).

· State Senate District 1: Robert Jones (R); John Strifler (NPA).

· State Senate District 7: Frank Bruno (D); Dorothy Hukill (R); Jacqueline Porter (R).

· State Senate District 8: John Thrasher (R).

· State Senate District 20: Alan Hays (R); Pat Patterson (R).

· State House District 20: Mike Davis (R); Terry Shoemaker (R).

· State House District 21: David Bowman (R); Charles Van Zant (R).

· State House District 25: Larry Metz (R).

· State House District 26: Fred Costello (R).

· State House District 27: Dwayne Taylor (D).

· State House District 28: Maureen France (R); Ted Noftall (R).

· State House District 33: Jason Brodeur (R); Franklin Perez (LIB).

Find this article here:  http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/politics/elections/2011/09/06/special-primary-sept-20-for-senate-district-1-vacancy.html