County Council Chair Jeff Brower Running for Re-Election

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Jeff Brower, the incumbent Chair of the Volusia County Council, announced on Friday that he will be running for re-election. Brower will face potentially the toughest electoral challenge of his career, going up against Port Orange Mayor Don Burnette and local business leader Randy Dye. In the 2022 election cycle, Brower put his political savvy to the test by endorsing three candidates he dubbed the ‘Volusia Values’ bunch. All three of those candidates, Doug Petit, Ken Smith, and Ted Noftall, lost their respective races. Having seen his stamp of approval falling more or less flat in last year’s elections, Brower will hope that his own record will be enough to carry him to a second term. Among the top issues for Volusia voters in last year’s election cycle were tax rates, growth and development, and strategies to bring in new businesses and jobs. There’s still well over a year to go until the 2024 election season, and it’s possible if not probable the highly competitive County Council Chair race will attract one or more contenders. The viability of challenger campaigns may be the best watermark yet of voters’ opinion of Brower’s first term in office.