Deltona Pastor Dr. Fred Lowry, who currently represents District 5 on the Volusia County Board, filed a candidacy Jan. 10 for District 5 of the Volusia County School Board, against incumbent Ruben Colón.

School District 5 includes Deltona and Orange City.

Colón is a respiratory therapist who had never held public office before being elected to the school board in 2018. He announced his intention to run for the school board almost a year ago.

Lowry has served on county council since 2014. Prior to that, he served as the city commissioner for Deltona. He was a longtime senior pastor in Deltona, currently at Cross Walk Church in Deltona.

Colón said he was surprised by Lowry’s move from the county council to the school board, but would run on his record.

“My record speaks for itself: promises made, promises kept,” Colón said, adding, “I’m proud of my record. I ran on three things: increasing the graduation rate… increasing job training programs and school safety. … Our schools are a better place than they were four years ago.

Contact by The tag for comment, Lowry said he is currently out of town and will comment when he returns.

Lowry was a teacher and high school principal in the 1970s and 1980s, according to his candidate statement filed with the office of elections.

In early June 2021, Lowry was at the center of controversy, as a video of one of his sermons, laced with conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 pandemic and sex trafficking by liberal celebrities, was released. widely publicized.

According to Volusia County election records, Lowry has so far not raised funds for his campaign. Colón, who filed nearly a year ago, has $22,450 in his campaign kitty, mostly loans from the candidate to himself.

More county council and school board races are brewing

The county council’s current general representative, Ben Johnson, is coming to the end of his four-year term and has said he will not stand again. Current District 4 Representative Heather Post, who served six years on County Council, and former Port Orange City Manager Jake Johansson have both filed for the universal seat.

In District 1, which covers DeLand, Lake Helen and most of Orange City, Rep. Barb Girtman is up for re-election and has two opponents so far: Wallace Bailey and Ronnie Mills. Mills, who owns a septic tank business, previously ran unsuccessfully for a county council seat. Bailey is a newcomer who has worked in environmental protection and owns a jiujitsu studio.

In District 5, which covers southwestern Volusia, including Deltona, two candidates came forward: Victor Ramos and David Sosa. Both currently serve on the Deltona City Commission.

School board seats representing Districts 1 and 3 will also be on the ballot this fall. In District 1, incumbent Jamie Haynes has two challengers: newcomers Jaclyn Carrell and Georgann Carnicella.

In District 3, which covers southeast Volusia, longtime school board member Linda Cuthbert said she will not run for office. Justin Kennedy, Kimberly Short and Jessie Thompson have all applied for the job.

Anyone who intends to try to sit on the county council or the school board has until the end of June to file documents to run. Until the end of this qualification period, the composition of the races will not be final.

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