DELTONA -- Three potential candidates have emerged to replace Dennis Mulder as the Democratic nominee for the District 27 state representative's seat.
DeBary Mayor Bob Garcia, former County Councilman Phil Giorno and recent congressional candidate Nicholas Ruiz have all indicated an interest in replacing Mulder -- who withdrew due to his son's illness -- and running against Republican David Santiago, party sources said Saturday.
Who will emerge and how that will happen remained a bit unclear, though.
"It's such a rare occurrence," said Wayne Bailey, a state Democratic Party committeeman from DeLand. "The process is still evolving."
Traditionally, local state committeemen have made a recommendation to the state party chairman, Bailey said. But several issues have clouded the process.
First, Mulder's letter of resignation has apparently not yet reached the Secretary of State's office in Tallahassee, Bailey said. Local Democrats were attempting to figure out how to get a copy of that letter to the state during the holiday weekend so it can be certified and the selection of a replacement can ensue.
Also, Bailey and the two other state committeewomen from Volusia County - Joan Lane and Joyce Cusack - were planning to leave Sunday for Charlotte, N.C., where the Democratic National Convention starts on Tuesday. Bailey said the three haven't figured out whether or how they might meet to discuss choosing a recommendation, although he understands the process has been done by email in other counties.
And last, it was unclear to Bailey what the deadline for determining a replacement actually is. Bailey said he was under the impression that ballots are not supposed to be printed until at least after President Obama is officially nominated by his party at the Democratic convention later this week. But when Mulder announced his withdrawal, Supervisor of Elections Ann McFall told The News-Journal that ballots had already been printed.
Rob Field, a precinct committeeman who sits on the Volusia County Democratic Executive Committee, said Democrats have a good opportunity to win the seat because of the voter registration numbers and demographics of District 27, which includes all of Deltona and DeBary and stretches across southern Volusia County to Oak Hill.
Field said he favors Garcia and has been lobbying Bailey and others on his behalf. The DeBary mayor has the best chance to win a 60-day race because of name recognition, Field said.
"I feel I can better represent DeBary from Tallahassee than as the mayor," Garcia said Saturday. "I'm not going to spend tax dollars on wants when there's so many needs."
Giorno, a Deltona resident, said he is interested in running because he previously represented the same area - southern Volusia County - on the Volusia County Council from 1990 to 1996.
"I know a lot of people in the district," he said Saturday. Giorno is also chairman of the Volusia County Democratic Executive Committee.
In 2010, Ruiz failed as a write-in candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives seat now held by Sandy Adams. During last month's primary, he finished a distant second to Jason Kendall for the Democratic nod to challenge U.S. Rep. John Mica in the 7th Congressional District.
Santiago served on the Deltona City Commission from 2003 to 2007.
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