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Elections Simplified

County Council Member, District 1

Volusia County, Florida

My vote power

High

Election date

August 18, 2026

This seat represents District 1, not the whole district above. We can’t match an address to an area this small, so this race may not be on your ballot.

How do we calculate my vote power?

What goes into the rating: Representation: how much weight one vote carries here compared with a statewide vote — the smaller the district, the more each vote counts. Decisiveness: how likely this race is to be close, based on past results or current analyst ratings, plus the number of candidates.

Representation: High · 66 out of 100

This district is a small slice of its state, so each vote here carries much more weight than a vote in a statewide race. About 579,622 people live here.

Show the representation math

score = 50 + 50 × ln(state population ÷ this district's) ÷ ln(50,000) = 50 + 50 × ln(22,416,077 ÷ 579,622) ÷ ln(50,000) = 66.89, measured against a statewide vote in FL (grades: 66+ high, 55+ above average, 33+ average, otherwise low; a statewide race is the 50 baseline)

Decisiveness: Unknown

No analyst ratings or past results for this contest yet.

High representation → My vote power: High.

Some data is missing, so this rating is based on partial information and capped at "High".

About this office

  • Setting your property tax rate
  • Funding county roads, health programs, and elections
  • Setting land use and building rules outside city limits

Affects: Healthcare Affordability, Environment and Public Health, Government Efficiency,

Candidates

Don Dempsey

In runoff

Nonpartisan · Incumbent · runoff

Don Dempsey serves on the Volusia County Council and is an attorney who began as an assistant state attorney in 1990 before building a practice in criminal defense and family law.

Melissa D. Thorne

Nonpartisan · lost

Melissa D. Thorne is a candidate for the District 1 seat on the Volusia County (Florida) Council in the nonpartisan August 2026 election. Melissa has not previously held Volusia County Council office.

Wendy Anderson

In runoff

Nonpartisan · runoff

Wendy Anderson is a candidate for the District 1 seat on the Volusia County (Florida) Council in the nonpartisan August 2026 election. She is a biologist and environmentalist and currently serves as an elected Supervisor of the Volusia County Soil and Water Conservation District.

Results

  • Runoff · Certified

    Winners: Wendy Anderson (Nonpartisan), Don Dempsey (Nonpartisan)

    Source: enr.electionsfl.org · researched September 12, 2026

Source: volusiaelections.gov