Former Deltona Commissioner Victor Ramos Announces Mayoral Bid

Former Deltona City Commissioner Victor Ramos is running for mayor, per an announcement on his Facebook page on Saturday. He's challenging incumbent Mayor Santiago Avila Jr., who was first elected in 2022. "For too long, our city has been at a crossroads," Ramos said in his announcement. "It's time to move forward. I believe in a business-oriented government that supports local entrepreneurs and attracts responsible investment without losing our community values. Growth should never come at the expense of our quality of life." Ramos has five years of experience on the Deltona City Commission. He first ran unsuccessfully in 2014, before being appointed to a seat in 2017 after the resignation of Brian Soukup. He was elected to a four-year term by the voters in 2018. In 2022 Ramos opted to run for County Council, ultimately losing to David Santiago. In his campaign announcement, Ramos described himself as a resident of Deltona for over two decades. He cited his experience on the Deltona City Commission as well as work "with various boards across our city and county". Santiago Avila Jr., the incumbent mayor, won his first term in office in the 2022 election. In a hotly contested general election, he prevailed over opponent Heidi Herzberg with a 52.92% majority - less than two thousand votes ahead of Herzberg out of 26,602 votes cast. Avila has already announced his campaign for re-election, and has logged $18,000 in contributions on the Volusia County Supervisor of Elections website. One other candidate has also filed: Jason Voelz. Curiously, Voelz is also filed to run for the Florida state Senate and the Volusia County Council, all in the same election cycle. According to a report from the Daytona Beach News-Journal, Voelz intends to decide on one of those three races to commit to between now and the qualifying deadline of June 12.