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Updated June 22 at 3 p.m.
The qualifying period for most candidates seeking political office this fall ended at noon Friday, setting up a number of interesting contests for seats from local city councils to U.S. Congress.
Most candidates for state, county and municipal elections had to file their paperwork to run for office between June 8 and June 12, while candidates for U.S. Congress, state attorney, public defender and judicial nominees had a qualifying period in mid-April.
All races with three or more candidates will appear on the Aug. 18 primary election ballot, in order to whittle the fields of candidates down to two for the Nov. 3 general election. Conversely, most contests with only two candidates will not appear until the November ballot, an exception this year being the race for the new position of county tax collector.
In partisan elections, such as those for state and federal representatives, if more than two candidates of the same party are running, they will compete in a closed primary where only people affiliated with that party can vote.
The exception is when all candidates in a race belong to the same party and there is no general-election opposition from another party — then, all voters can participate, as in the race for public defender this year, for example.
These are the candidates running in contested races in West Volusia who have successfully qualified, according to information as of 2 p.m. Friday from the Volusia County Supervisor of Elections Office and the Florida Department of Elections.
Around that time, Supervisor of Elections Lisa Lewis said her staff were still working on verifying petitions and other documents from some candidates before officially deeming them qualified.
The list below will be updated with more races once the candidates running in them are listed as qualified.
Lewis herself, along with Sheriff Mike Chitwood and Clerk of the Circuit Court Laura Roth, are facing no opposition for their jobs this year.
Visit www.volusiaelections.org for more information on voting, candidates, instructions on how to request a mail ballot, and other election-related topics.
Information on state and federal candidates can also be had at the Florida Department of Elections website, https://dos.elections.myflorida.com/candidates/.
U.S. Representative (District 6)
Clint Curtis (Democratic)
Alan Grayson (Write-in, Democratic)
John G. “Gerry” Nolan (Write-in)
Richard Thripp (Democratic)
Michael Waltz (Republican, incumbent)
State Attorney
Don Dempsey (NPA)
R.J. Larizza (Republican, incumbent)
Public Defender
George Burden (Republican)
Anne Marie Gennusa (Republican)
Matt Metz (Republican)
State Senator (District 7)
Richard Dembinsky (write-in)
Heather Hunter (Democratic)
Travis J. Hutson (Republican, incumbent)
State Senator (District 9)
Rick Ashby (Democratic)
Jason Brodeur (Republican)
Alexis Carter (Democratic)
Alexander H. Duncan (Democratic)
Jestine Iannotti (No party affiliation)
Guerdy Remy (Democratic)
Patricia Sigman (Democratic)
State House (District 24)
Adam Morley (Democratic)
Paul Renner (Republican, incumbent)
State House (District 26)
Elizabeth Fetterhoff (Republican, incumbent)
Patrick Henry (Democratic)
Evans L. Smith (Democratic)
State House (District 27)
Webster Barnaby (Republican)
Erika Benfield (Republican)
Zenaida Denizac (Republican)
Dolores Guzman (Democratic)
Circuit Judge (Circuit 7, Group 6)
Anna Handy
Mike Orfinger (Incumbent)
Circuit Judge (Circuit 7, Group 14)
Joan Anthony
Dan Hilbert
MaryEllen Osterndorf
Circuit Judge (Circuit 7, Group 27)
Robert Bryan Rendzio (Incumbent)
Alicia Washington
Volusia County Chair
Jeffrey Brower
Deborah Denys
Gerard Witman
County Judge, Group 6
Nora H. Hall
Chris Miller (incumbent)
Soil & Water Conservation District, Seat 2
Kellee Jo Ferrari (incumbent)
John Nelson
Wesley Wilson
Soil & Water Conservation District, Seat 4
Wendy Anderson
Barbara Deering
West Volusia Hospital Authority – Group A, Seat 3
Judith Craig (incumbent)
Dr. John M. Hill (currently occupies Group A, Seat 1)
West Volusia Hospital Authority – Group B, Seat 1
Jennifer Coen
Michael Ray
Tax Collector
Will Roberts (Republican)
David Santiago (Republican)
DeBary City Council Seat 1
Stephen Bacon (incumbent)
William Sell
DeBary City Council Seat 2
Darius Kelley
Jim Pappalardo
Ryan Rinaldo
Deltona City Commission District 4
Dana McCool
Ruben Munoz
Deltona City Commission District 6
Lawton Colleyshaw
Julio Sosa
Jody Storozuk
Orange City Mayor
Gary Blair (incumbent)
Anthony Pupello
Orange City District 3
Gaea Nunez (withdrawn)
Alexander S. Tiamson
Lake Helen Commission Zone 2
Roger Eckert
J.T. Hargrove
Roxann Goodman
Nancy Weary
Bart Gawlikowski
Lake Helen Commission Zone 4
James Connell (incumbent)
Elizabeth O’Laughlin
Pierson Town Council Seat 5
Herbert J. Bennett
Sergia Cardenas
