New Smyrna Beach politician endorses Ormond Beach attorney & fellow GOPer Tom Leek against Democrat Noel Bickford for Tallahassee seat
Headline Surfer® photo / Just who will succeed Fred Costello in the Florida Legislature's district 25 seat is down to two candidates -- Republican Tom Leek and Democrat Noel Bickford (shown next him), both of Ormond Beach With Costello having announced his run for Congress earlier this year, the number of candidates vying to replace him in Tallahassee had grown to four. County Councilwoman Deb Denys (shown left below) and Costello's former aide, Becky Reichenberg, were the first and second, respectively, to announce their intentions to run. But Denys has instead opted to keep her seat on the Volusia County Council, and exited just after Reichenberg, leaving Leek and Bickford to battle it out in November in the district, which slightly favors Republicans.
NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- Citing "pressing family matters," Volusia County Councilwoman Deb Denys said she has withdrawn her candidacy from the Florida House 25th district.
Denys instead will serve out the remaining two years in her district 3 Volusia County Council seat in DeLand, much closer to her New Smyrna Beach residence than trekking to Tallahassee.
Denys has now endorsed fellow Republican candidate Tom Leek, a lawyer who heads up the Daytona Beach law firm Cobb Cole, for the district 25 seat.
Here is what Denys wrote of Leek, a first-time candidate for public office on any level:
"I have met with Tom Leek and find that we agree on issues that are of importance to Volusia County and the State of Florida."
Denys continued she "strongly endorses" Leek's campaign for the dstrict 25 House seat, while she intends to fulfill the remainder of her current four-year-term on the Volusia County Council.
Though Leek had amassed a whopping $54,100, more than twice the $23,230 Denys had generated to this point, she said it was a personal issue that had forced her to re-shuffle her priorities and not campaign finances.
"Recent unforeseen developments which affect my immediate family require me to stay close to Volusia County," Denys wrote to Headline Surfer® and other Central Florida media outlets.
"Recent unforeseen developments which affect my immediate family require me to stay close to Volusia County," County Councilwoman Deb Denys wrote to Headline Surfer® and other Central Florida media outlets, in announcing her withdrawal from the district 25 Florida House race and endorsingf fellow Republican Tom Leek.
Denys did not eleborate on the circumstances involving the family matter at hand, continuing, "The office of representative involves a rigid travel schedule and extended time away from home, preventing me from honoring my family commitments."
Back in January, Denys was the first of four candidates to announce a run for the District 25 seat being vacated by Republican Fred Costello, who announced his intention to run for the geographically re-aligned District 6 congressional seat, which covers more of Volusia County in the 2016 election cycle.
“I’m proud to announce my candidacy to bring genuine conservative leadership to Tallahassee," said Denys, at the time, whose District 3 district represents New Smyrna Beach, Edgewater and Oak Hill. "As a champion of economic growth and job creation, I will continue to fight to expand the commercial aerospace market in Volusia County with the goal of bringing in higher wage jobs for our citizens.”
Denys, a retired insurance agent and licensed securities dealer, was elected to the County Council in 2012, in a hotly-contested three-way race, having finished a close second to Demoocrat Jim Hathaway, then a retiring New Smyrna Beach city commissioner, in the primnary. She then went on to win handily in the November general election.
Hathaway has since been elected mayor of New Smyrna Beach and is up for re-election for a second two-year term in this election cycle, who, so far has no opposition.
Denys would have an easier time in 2014, winning the primary outright over former Edgewater City Councilman Justin Kennedy, who had finished third in the previous campaign. A newcomer, David Machuga of New Smyrna Beach, was not a factor..
Denys was first elected to poublic office during the mid-1990s, when she served a four-yeear term on the Volusia County School Board.
Even though county council seats are limited to two consecutive four-year terms, Denys could conceivably serve a third term in 2018, because of earlier redistricting that cut her first term in half.
Photo for Headline Surfer® / Becky Reichenberg, a former aide to State Rep. Fred Costello, withdrew her candidacy from the district 25 seat earlier this month that is currently held by Costello, who is running for Congress.
Denys' decision to withdraw allows her to continue serving the remaining two years of her County Council term. She was facing a midJune deadline to withdraw from the county council had she not walked away from the state race.
Leek's Democratic oppoent in the upcoming November general election, Bickford, also of Ormond Beach, has yet to generate any campaigns, according to a review of her campaign reports on file with the State of Florida.
Bickford lost handily to Costello in the 2014 elections, garnering less than 42 percent of the votes.
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