- October 5, 2026
Editor's note: This is part of a series of stories highlighting the candidates for local office who will be on the Nov. 3 ballot.
Jennifer Bright never thought she'd run for office.
After a couple of years of living in Ormond Beach, she started attending City Commission meetings. She wanted to know how local government worked, seeing as she had moved from out-of-state. Oftentimes, she'd have questions about items on the agenda.
"The more questions I asked, the less answers I was receiving," Bright said. "... I couldn't figure that I was the only one."
So Bright threw her hat into the ring for the Zone 2 City Commission race. She's running against incumbent Commissioner Travis Sargent, who has held the seat since 2022.
Bright is running on a platform surrounding fiscal responsibility, transparency and ensuring local government takes care of existing residents' needs.
"I think the ground up feeds everything above us — from county, state, federal level," Bright said. "I think if you don't have a strong footing at the bottom, the house will crumble. I think local government, one of the least talked about, is one of the most important bases."
Bright was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay area of California. She studied accounting and began a career working for AT&T as a financial data analyst. She has two children, a son and a daughter. Her son served in the U.S. Marine Corps, and her daughter and two grandchildren live in Florida.
Around 2008, her career with AT&T led her to move to Dallas, Texas, where she lived for more than 10 years. When the company downsized staff, Bright said she was forced into early retirement.
In her years of living in Dallas, her property taxes had doubled, she said, and she couldn't afford to stay in her home after she retired. She couldn't afford to move back to California either.
So Bright started researching areas to relocate, particularly ones along the coast.
That's how she found Ormond Beach.
"One of my draws, even to come look here first, was the affordability," Bright said. "I looked at the price of living, the taxes, the cost of homes. Volusia County was one of the more affordable places."
Bright moved to Ormond in 2021.
I think the ground up feeds everything above us — from county, state, federal level. I think if you don't have a strong footing at the bottom, the house will crumble. I think local government, one of the least talked about, is one of the most important bases." – JENNIFER BRIGHT, candidate for Zone 2
About two years later, she started to feel settled enough in her new home to start becoming involved in local government and politics.
Initially, she applied to be on city advisory boards. She applied for every board, in fact.
But when the commission chose new advisory board members in 2024, Bright was not chosen. She was nominated for an alternate position on the Board of Adjustments and Appeal, but was shot down by commissioners who thought her emails to the city containing questions were "negative."
"I was floored," Bright said. "I walked away with the opinion — and I think it's more than just an opinion now — is if you don't agree, you don't get on."
Some have voiced that longevity in the community is important to serving in local office. Bright shares a different perspective and said that she's done a lot to educate herself.
"Maybe I haven't learned every idiosyncrasy of the community yet," she said. "I'll be the first to admit that. But by the same token, I'm just as committed. I live here. It's home, and I think I have a little more outside-the-bubble look. I've seen how different communities have functioned — things that have worked well, things that haven't worked so well."
Bright had some hesitations in filing for office. She knew it would be a big commitment, and that she'd have to put some things she enjoyed, like traveling, on the back burner. If she was going to run for office, she would do so with 100% of her efforts.
"I did a lot of soul searching before I finally threw my hat in, but decided it was something that I felt I needed to do," Bright said.
As someone who is more introverted, Bright said she never liked public speaking. She's done a lot of that in recent months.
"I joke with people I know real close. I say, 'Who needs Toastmasters? Just go to a commission meeting and speak a few times,'" she said with a laugh. "That was a big thing."
Infrastructure and focusing on economic development on the beachside to increase tourism are some things she said the city should work on. Bright is also concerned about property taxes and their impacts on residents with fixed incomes.
Is she anti-growth? Bright says no. Places are going to grow, but growth needs careful planning.
"I think growth needs to be done responsibly," she said. "If we're going to grow, before the building goes up or the development, the developer needs to pay to have the infrastructure brought to their development, not the existing residents. I think that gets lost, and some things get built out and the existing residents pay."
Bright's grandfather used to tell her often to be herself. To stick to her moral compass. Bright said honesty is one of the most important things in her life.
"It's not just saying what's honest," she said. "If you're deliberately not saying something to avoid the truth, to me, it's just as dishonest."
She tries to keep residents aware of what's going on in the city, including sending out a newsletter and weekly broadcast on the agenda items for both the City Commission and Volusia County Council. That's something she started to do two years ago.
"When I was working, you don't have time to do that," Bright said. "Especially if you're younger and have a family, especially when the family is young — you don't have time to dedicate to do that kind of research. So I'm just hoping to make it easier for people to become aware of what's going on."
As someone who has always excelled in the math side of issues, Bright was drawn to numbers. Being able to understand them and pay attention to details are some strengths she feels she can bring to the dais.
Collaboration on the commission is very important, she said.
"I think everybody brings a unique perspective to the table and I think you have to work them all through and do what's best for the majority of the residents of the community," Bright said.
