DELTONA -- Congressman John Mica easily won the GOP primary over three others with 72.2 percent districtwide.

The Republican from Winter Park had four times as many votes as second place finisher, David Smith, who had 18.7 percent of the votes, followed by Don Oehlrich with 5.1 percent and Kelly Shirley with 4 percent.

In terms of the actual votes, Mica had 32,076, Smith 8,312, Oehlrich 2,284 and Shirley 1,785.

In Volusia County, where Mica represents DeBary, Deltona and Orange City, he received 74.9 percent of the overall votes, with Smith second at 16.09 percent, followed by Shirley with 4.83 percent and Oehlrich with 4.1 percent.

Comeback over for Phil Giorno with third place finish

Headline Surfer® graphic / At left are the results of the Aug. 26 primary for the Volusia County Council District 5 seat showing Rich Gailey with the win, Fred Lowry, Jr., finishing second and Phil Giorno finishing third and out of the running, and all three shown from left to right. Gailey and Lowry will square off in November.

DELTONA -- Rich Gailey won Tuesday's primary for the County Council District 5 seat on the County Council, but not by enough to avoid a Nov. 4 runoff with second-place finisher Fred Lowry, Jr.

For Phil Giorno, who finished a distant third, a comeback on the dais didn't materialize and hid campaign is now over.

DAYTONA BEACH -- Karen Foxman, one of the top prosecutors in the State Attorney's Office, won big in in her quest for a circuit judgeship in Volusia, Flagler, Putnam and St. Johns counties with two-thirds of the votes for a circuit judgeship.

'Crazy' Eddie Colosimo and his outspokenness could resonate with voters, too

Photos for Headline Surfer® / Meet the candidates for mayor of Holly Hill in the Tuesday primary as shown here from left to right: John Penny, Chris Via and Eddie Colosimo.

HOLLY HILL --It's experience in John Penny or youth in Chris Via that appear to be the best choices for voters in choosing their next mayor in today's primary.

Penny, 50, married with two children and a veteran Holly Hill commissioner, has the pedigree and experience in municipal governance, while Via, just 24, has the youthful exuberance and enthusiasm that could reverberate throughout this small city that struggles sometimes in the shadow of its neighbor to the both in Ormond Beach or to the south in Daytona Beach.

A third option is mayoral candidate "Crazy" Eddie Colosimo, a 72-year-old Vietnam vet and biker with the self-described nickname who has been an outspoken critic of municipal politics over the last couple of years. 

Nan Rich, shown in the inset, faces an uphill battle in terms of name recognition with Democrats voting in Tuesday's primary who will either Charlie Crist, shown with his choice for lieutenant governor, Annette Taddeo-Goldstein, who heads Miami-Dade's Democratic Party.

DAYTONA BEACH -- Nan Rich, the ultimate Democratic time server who was term-limited in  the Florida House and then the Senate finally gets her shot to be governor.

World's Most Famous Beach, Daytona 500 and Bike Week part of winning formula

Headline Surfer® photos / Daytona Beach is vital to Florida's tourism health and the three time-trusted staples are the World's Most Famous Beach, the Daytona 500 and Bike Week.

DAYTONA BEACH -- Gov. Rick Scott was more than eager to have a press release sent out to Florida's daily media outlets on Friday, the day after he visited the Daytona Beach Chamber of Commerce with promising tourism figures -- increasing numbers of visitors and tourism-related jobs.

"According to VISIT FLORIDA's preliminary estimates, Florida has experienced another record quarter for visitation, with 24 million visitors during the months of April-June 2014," the governor boasted.  

Incumbent county councilwoman hasn't even been on dais that long

Headline Surfer® graphic /

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Deb Denys, elected in 2012, brags in a recent campaign mailer that she "voted against tax increases two years in a row,"  which is impossible since she hasn't even been in office long enough to even come close to completing a second annual budget cycle. 

Ex-County Chair Phil Giorno worth consideration

Headline Surfer® photo / Rich Gailey, candidate for Volusia County Council district 5, is endorsed by Headline Surfer® with fellow candidate Phil Giorno of Deltona recognized as an alternate endorsement by the award-wining 24/7 internet newspaper.

DELTONA -- The maturation Rich Gailey has shown since his initial run two years ago against an entrenched incumbent has been truly amazing.

And Gailey's hard work on the campaign trail brings hope for the folks of Deltona, DeBary, Enterprise and Osteen in reversing what has been an abysmal two years under term-limited incumbent in Patricia Northey.

And this endorsement is as much about the past as it is the future. Gailey is that future and his presence on the county dais is desperately needed now.