Ray Stevens today was reelected to the Palm Coast City Council seat he resigned soon after his first election in November 2024, this time without opposition. Stevens suggested that Dave Sullivan, who was appointed to the seat when Stevens resigned it, should now himself resign and let Stevens pick up the responsibility. Sullivan said he will not do so.
Qualifying for all local elections ended at noon today. Since Stevens was the only qualified candidate for the District 3 City Council seat, he was automatically declared the winner.
Stevens’s achievement is historic in at least some regards: though early city records are hazy, he appears to be the first City Council candidate elected without opposition in the city’s 27-year history. He is also the first candidate reelected to his own seat and term, which he now gets to complete. He will serve two years and would have to run again in 2028 if he intends to retain the seat. Two years ago he won a historically close primary race by two votes to go on to the general election.
“I think that I’ve been around town a long time–name recognition, I know a lot of people, I’m involved in a lot of fraternal organizations,” Stevens, speaking from a house he owns in northern Georgia, said after his election this afternoon. “Last time I ran I did quite well. I won every precinct in the city–early voting, mail-in voting, military ballots, overseas ballots, not because I’m a great orator. It’s because I’m on point. I’m on message.”
Stevens, a retired law enforcement officer, beat Dana Sancel in the August 2024 primary, 6,191 to 6,189, then beat Andrew Werner in the general election decisively, only to get severely ill weeks after his swearing in. He resigned. The council appointed Dave Sullivan, one of 13 candidates who had applied, to fill out the nearly two years remaining before another general election. (A proposed charter amendment would require the city to hold a special election within weeks of a resignation, if similar circumstances occur.)
“I’m running again because I believe I have a job to finish,” Stevens said. “I want to attempt to fulfill the promises I made during the campaign. That’s why I jumped back in. Same guy, same message, so really very little has changed.” He would be sworn in in November, “Unless of course Sullivan decides to step down and do the right thing, because he’s sitting in my seat,” Stevens said. “They can swear me in and I’ll take the seat now. But otherwise I think it’s going to be in November.”
Stevens has a strong argument: he was elected twice to the position, to Sullivan’s none. And is is his seat, if not by right, then at least by noblesse. But is up to Sullivan to oblige.
Sullivan had been watching the election closely. He was asked about that possibility this afternoon. “I could do that. I’m not going to do that,” he said. “I checked with the lawyers on this, and according to the rules, I stay in office until Nov. 19.” Sullivan said if he got sick as Stevens did, he would resign, and that would present a different set of circumstances.
But there is no rule that forces him to stay in his seat: he could resign, whatever the circumstances.
If he did so, it would result in a significant shift for that seat in some regards, especially in one of the two most significant decisions the council will take up in the next few weeks: the development order for the planned “western expansion” west of U.S. 1, and the proposed development of 22,000 homes on 22,000 acres. Sullivan leans favorably toward the proposal, if with caveats.
Stevens does not. “I am diametrically opposed to it,” Stevens said, citing a few reasons: “Half the property according to the map I looked at is basically wetlands,” he said. “Secondly we have our wells there.” He was referring to the wells that supply Palm Coast with potable water. “Thirdly they put in this loop road, which is basically a joke.” The road, he said, loops from Matanzas Woods Parkway to Palm Coast Parkway, channeling traffic back into the core of the city and down to State Road 100, aggravating traffic issues.
“I want to keep Palm Coast Palm Coast, as it was intended to be,” Stevens said.
Sullivan takes a more accommodating approach to the proposed order, saying it’s a work in progress that can be worked out carefully.
He was surprised that Stevens drew no opposition. “Thirteen people applied including me,” he said of the opening for the appointment to Stevens’s seat, “and eventually after some turmoil and people saying nasty things about me, I was awarded the position. So it’s interesting that no one else tried to run for the office.”
Sullivan could have run. He opted not to: he’s going to be 85 the day he leaves office on Nov. 19, if he serves out his term. He said if he had not had his own health challenges he might have tried again. He had a suggestion for Stevens, who has not been attending meetings in person: “I would hope he would start showing up to meetings to kind of get up to speed.” Sullivan said Stevens’s re-learning curve would be short, having held the seat before.
Stevens said he’s been trying to stay “under the radar” and not needlessly attract attention. If the strategy was to ward off any possible opposition, it clearly worked, though there also seemed to be a tacit understanding that the seat was his to reclaim, and that a run against him might have been more swagger than necessity.
With the end of qualifying for local elections in Flagler County, there are contested races in two other council districts, as well as for two County Commission seats and three School Board seats. See the full list at the Supervisor of Elections’ site.
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