By HENRY FREDERICK / Headline Surfer
DELTONA, Fla. -- DELTONA, Fla. -- When it comes to primary elections, three's a crowd and only one of three Republicans - Webster Barnaby, Erika Benfield or Zenaida Denizac - can advance to the November runoff to face Democrat Dolores Guzman in the race for the Florida House 27 seat absent an incumbent.
Of the three Republicans, only Benfield is currently in office, serving as a DeBary City Council member since winning election in 2016. Benfield also serves as DeBary's vice mayor.
Barnaby and Denizac are both former Deltona city commissioners, though neither has held office in quite a while.
Denizac served on the commission for nine years, including a stint as vice mayor, but gave up her seat in 2014 to run for mayor and came up short.
Barnaby is the least experienced of the three in holding elected office. He won a seat on the Deltona City Commission in 2012, but only served two years. In 2014, he gave up his elected post on the Deltona City Commission to run for the at-large seat Volusia County Council seat held by Joyce Cusack. But Barnaby finished a distant third in the primary. Cusack won re-election for a second four-year term.
The at-large county council seat is now held by retired Sheriff Ben Johnson who won it outright in 2018 in a three-way primary.
In the November 2018 general elections, Barnaby ran for an open seat on the West Volusia Hospital Authority against Dolores Guzman and was soundly beaten in the non-partisan race by a 7,000-vote margin or nearly 55 percent of the votes cast.
Barnaby did not respond after Headline Surfer pointed out that Guzman is the Democratic candidate that either he, Benfield or Denizac will have to compete against leading up to the November runoff.
There is no incumbent in this race since David Santiago is barred from running again due to term limits. Santiago instead is a candidate for the newly-created office of Volusia County tax collector.
Endorsement in the works for Fla House 27 GOP primary
Headline Surfer will post a comprehensive endorsement for either Barnaby, Benfield or Denizac during the July 4th holiday weekend to kick of a series of endorsements over the summer in advance of the primary and general elections, in contested races at all levels of government in Volusia, Seminole and Orange counties.
About the Byline Writer: Henry Frederick is publisher of Headline Surfer, the award-winning 24/7 internet news outlet launched 12 years ago that serves greater Daytona Beach, Sanford & Orlando, Florida via HeadlineSurfer.com. Frederick has amassed more than a hundred journalism industry awards in print & online -- more than than all other members of the working press combined in Central Florida since the mid-1990s. He earned his Master of Arts in New Media Journalism with academic honors from Full Sail University in 2019. Having witnessed the execution of serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Florida's death chamber and other high profile cases, Frederick has appeared on national crime documentary programs on Discovery ID and Reelz for his investigative reporting and cops & courts breaking news stories.