Daytona City Commissioner Ruth Trager loses re-election bid as two other commissioners hang onto seats

DAYTONA BEACH — Daytona Beach voters decided Tuesday to give two incumbent city commissioners four more years in office, but they also chose to put one newcomer on the seven-member commission.

Monica Paris, who had never run for elected office before, nudged two-term Zone 1 City Commissioner Ruth Trager by collecting 89 more votes, according to unofficial results Tuesday night. Paris' 51.42% share of votes amounted to a little less than a 3% margin of victory, results show.

FLORIDA ELECTION RESULTS 2022: See results from local and statewide races

In Zone 5, City Commissioner Dannette Henry easily defeated first-time candidate Malcolm Williams, with Henry collecting 61.72% of votes in her race, unofficial results show.

In Zone 3, challenger Steve Miller fell short as incumbent City Commissioner Quanita May held onto her seat for a second four-year term. May finished with 55.35% of votes in the Zone 3 competition.

The three winners will be sworn in Nov. 23, and they'll have four years in office. Commissioners have an annual salary of $23,650.

Read more about Daytona Beach's City Commission Zone 1 race: It's incumbent Trager versus newcomer Paris in Daytona's Zone 1 commission post

Background on Daytona Beach City Commission Zone 3 competition: Daytona Commission Zone 3 candidates discuss their priorities

Additional information on Daytona Beach Zone 5 City Commission post: It's Malcolm Williams vs. Dannette Henry in Daytona Beach City Commission Zone 5 race

Trager has been the Daytona Beach Zone 1 city commissioner since 2014.

Trager was re-elected in 2018, and she had hoped to serve a third term for the zone that's south of Silver Beach Avenue on the beachside and south of Orange Avenue on the mainland. There are no term limits on Daytona Beach city commissioner seats and the mayoral position.

The 83-year-old Trager, a business and property owner who has lived in Daytona Beach since she was 14, was hoping to remain heavily involved in city happenings.

"We have a lot of new development coming up and I want to make sure we have enough water and commercial development comes along with the housing," Trager said a few months ago. "I'm hoping we'll also get more industry."

'We could be doing so much more'

The 45-year-old Paris, who moved to Volusia County in 2016, said one of the reasons she ran for the City Commission post was because she sees so much potential in Daytona Beach.

"I don't understand why Daytona Beach is stuck," said Paris, who has residential real estate investments and re-sells items online. "We have such a beautiful beach and we could be doing so much more."

She said the city needs to start by cleaning up, clearing out vagrants and getting more police on patrol.

Paris has a bachelor's degree in business management and finance from Brooklyn College. For 20 years she worked in operations and sales in the wholesale furniture business, and traveled around the world.

New development in Daytona's Zone 3

Prior to being on the City Commission, May was the vice chair of the Downtown Redevelopment Board.

The 51-year-old owns and runs a Beach Street-area business that offers a wide range of services including fitness training, dance lessons, personal development, workforce development and business plan coaching.

Zone 3 encompasses most of the city's beachside and part of the core area on the mainland.

May has said she's very aware of the challenges in Zone 3, including the chronic flooding on Beach Street and vagrancy in several parts of the downtown. She said she wants to work on improving the Ridgewood Avenue corridor, which has a need for redevelopment and longstanding problems with crime, prostitution, drugs and dilapidation.

She's also been involved in trying to improve Main Street, and she's been trying to help residents in the Windsor and Maley apartments as that property undergoes a major overhaul.

Miller was the Daytona Beach Zone 5 city commissioner from 1993 until 1995. He made an unsuccessful run for the Zone 3 post eight years ago and again four years ago. He also came up short six years ago when he ran for a state legislative seat representing the Volusia County area.

Miller is a former member of the Midtown Redevelopment Board, and he currently serves on the city's Leisure Services Advisory Board that he was instrumental in getting established.

Miller, who's 68, has lived in Daytona Beach since 1980. Since 1984 he has owned and run a small tax business that assists people who owe money.

Affordable housing top priority for Henry

Henry, sister of Daytona Beach Mayor Derrick Henry, first won election to the Zone 5 seat in 2016. It was the first time she had held an elected position.

For more than a decade, the Zone 5 seat has been held by a member of the Henry family: First Derrick Henry, then his brother Patrick Henry and now Dannette Henry — all siblings.

The 51-year-old Dannette Henry is an educator who was a classroom teacher for 22 years. She's currently a reading and math coach for a private education business.

She said her biggest priority now is getting more affordable housing and increasing home ownership in Daytona Beach.

"It will be at the center for the next four years," she said.

Williams was born in Daytona Beach and lived in the city until 2000, when his family moved to South Florida. The 36-year-old moved back to Daytona Beach in 2008.

He took some classes at Daytona State College, and he owns a hookah catering service business. He had said he wouldn't operate the hookah business while he's a candidate, and he would have reviewed his operational plans if he was elected.

He also works at the Checkers restaurant on International Speedway Boulevard just east of Martin Luther King Boulevard.

You can reach Eileen at Eileen.Zaffiro@news-jrnl.com

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Daytona Beach voters chose one new city commissioner and re-elected two