Dylana Galery advances to the November general election after finishing second in the Palm Coast City Council District 4 race.
Darlene Shelley advances to the November election for the Palm Coast City Council District 4 seat. Photo by Rich Carroll
Tony Amaral advances to the November election for the Palm Coast City Council District 2 seat. Photo by Rich Carroll
Jeani Duarte advances to the November election for the Palm Coast City Council District 2 seat. Photo by Rich Carroll
Tony Amaral and Jeani Duarte are moving on to the November election for the Palm Coast City Council District 2 seat. Photo by Rich Carroll
Palm Coast voters narrowed two crowded City Council races to four candidates Tuesday, Aug. 18, sending Tony Amaral and Jeani Duarte to the November election in District 2 and Darlene Shelley and Dylana Galery forward in District 4.
Amaral led the three-candidate District 2 race with 8,903 votes, or 45%. Duarte finished second with 5,970 votes, or 30.17%, while Jimmy Hengy received 4,912 votes, or 24.83%. Because no candidate received more than 50% of the vote, Amaral and Duarte will face each other in November.
Amaral said Tuesday night that he was excited about the result but viewed it as another step toward November.
“It’s a lot to soak it in,” Amaral said. “Definitely excited. Just looking forward, you know, having some debates and taking it to November so we can win this thing all the way.”
Amaral said his 45% showing was close to what he had hoped to accomplish in the primary.
“That was my goal, that was my aim and kind of the number that I thought we could do,” he said.
Asked what he believed voters responded to during his campaign, Amaral pointed to his longtime ties to Palm Coast and his involvement in city issues.
“Just the message. I mean, homegrown, 43 years living here, knowledge,” Amaral said. “I’ve brought proposals, I’ve had solutions.”
Amaral thanked his supporters and said he now wants to reach voters who backed other candidates in the primary.
“My goal is to earn your vote,” he said.
Duarte also thanked her supporters Tuesday night and said advancing gives her an opportunity to continue making her case to voters.
“It means moving on to the next victory for sure,” Duarte said. “I want to thank everybody for coming out and voting.”
Duarte said she believes voters responded to her emphasis on transparency and facts.
“Transparency. Honesty,” she said. “They wanted to hear truth and they wanted to see facts. They don’t want to just hear it, they want to see it.”
Heading toward November, Duarte said she plans to hold more meet-and-greets and increase her face-to-face contact with voters.
“Personally, getting there, being present, being available, accessible,” Duarte said, adding that she wants “a lot of contact with people one on one and as groups.”
Duarte also said she hopes to earn support from voters who backed Hengy in the primary. She described Hengy as “a great guy” and said she believes his supporters had the right intentions.
Shelley, Galery advance in District 4
The District 4 race will also continue into November after none of its four candidates received a majority Tuesday.
Shelley led the field with 6,262 votes, or 32.06%. Galery finished second with 5,262 votes, or 26.94%, giving Shelley a 1,000-vote advantage. John Kvederis received 4,580 votes, or 23.45%, and Ramon Marrero finished with 3,428 votes, or 17.55%.
Shelley and Galery will now compete for the District 4 seat in the general election.
Voter turnout countywide was 29.96%, with 29,575 ballots cast out of 98,714 registered voters. All 21 Flagler County precincts had reported by 8:37 p.m., along with early voting and vote-by-mail results.
