As part of our commitment to providing you with what you need to make an informed decision in the 2026 elections, News 6 joined with the News Collaborative of Central Florida to present the Voting Central Florida 2026 Voter’s Guide.
Tuesday, Aug. 18 is the Florida Statewide Primary election, a mix of party primaries and nonpartisan local elections, such as school board races, judicial races, and county commission races in some counties.
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Florida has a closed primary system, which means only members of a political party may vote in party primaries. To be eligible, a voter had to identify with that party by July 20.
However, judicial races and local races, for the most part, are open to all registered voters, regardless of political party.
Everything you need to know in order to vote in the Aug. 18 Statewide Primary, including how to vote by mail, vote early, and vote on Election Day, can be found in our Election 2026 section HERE.
Flagler County Commission District 2, Republican Primary
The Flagler County Commission has five districts, and these are partisan races, which means you must be a member of a political party to vote in August. All voters will be able to choose from a final slate of candidates in November.
The winner of the Republican primary for the District 2 commission seat will go on to face Independent candidate Raymond Royer in November.
County Commission District 2 encompasses the northeastern part of the county. You can see a map of the district HERE.
The News Collaborative of Central Florida created a list of common questions to ask the candidates. Questionnaires were sent to all candidates.
Not all of the candidates responded. Where candidates did not respond, we have filled out the information to the best of our abilities.
News 6 compiled the candidate responses for Flagler County Commission District 2, emailing and calling the candidates over several weeks. Responses were edited for spelling and grammar, but otherwise left intact.
Greg Feldman
WEBSITE: https://www.votefeldman.com/
Top issues in your race
If elected, what are the THREE most pressing problems you want to address, and what do you suggest to solve them? In the boxes below, please list each issue and how you will address them:
YOUR NUMBER 1 ISSUE and how you plan to address it: One challenge is managing growth responsibly. Thousands of new homes, apartments and commercial properties are in various stages of planning. Development will continue, and I will work with staff, the other commissioners, other jurisdictions and the many stakeholders to ensure projects respect property rights while requiring compatibility with existing neighborhoods, follow land development codes and demonstrate adequate infrastructure planning and implementation from the outset.
YOUR NUMBER 2 ISSUE and how you plan to address it: Flagler County Fire Rescue (FCFR) is a component of our county’s public safety efforts. In fiscal year 2024, FCFR saw over 19,000 calls for service. Of those, over 15,000 were for emergency medical service (EMS) as FCFR is the sole provider of actual rescue units in Flagler County regardless of jurisdiction. That number is served by 10 Rescue stations scattered around the county, ensuring an average response time of approximately 5 minutes regardless of the location within the county. Based upon county growth, the number of calls, and specifically, EMS calls for service will continue to grow as well as expand to other areas not currently high volume. It is the role of the County Commission to make sure that FCFR has the fiscally sound resources to maintain the response time for professional fire and rescue services in Flagler County.
YOUR NUMBER 3 ISSUE and how you plan to address it: Traffic and vehicle volumes have become a topic of conversation in Flagler County, accelerating along with the pace of homes and businesses being built. The last few years have brought a number of large-scale housing developments proposed or under construction. As a member of the Flagler County Board of County Commissioners, I will draw on my experience as a member, and current Chairman of the Volusia Flagler Transportation Planning Organization’s Community Advisory Council to work on solutions to these problems. I will work to bring the major participants to this issue - FDOT, all of the cities, and the county road and engineering departments - to the table to have frank and open discussions to solve the issues of traffic management, signalization, road volumes and more. Through a cooperative effort centered on resolution, solutions improving this aspect of the quality of life for residents, business owners and visitors can be identified, addressed and resolved for everyone’s benefit.
FOR INCUMBENTS: Why do you deserve to be re-elected in this race? FOR CHALLENGERS AND OPEN SEATS: Why do you deserve to be elected in this race? I bring 47 years of law enforcement experience to the table. Through this experience, I bring skills in conflict resolution, complex decision-making, and a very analytical perspective to the dais. I am not afraid to make decisions for our county but I do so after careful analysis of information presented on specific topics and evaluating them to determine the benefit for everyone in Flagler County.
According to a University of North Florida poll, Floridians say affordability is their top issue. What are your solutions for dealing with Florida’s affordability issue? Since this is not specific to any one issue, I will address the greatest issue in our county when it comes to affordability. As a candidate for a county office I have no power to deal with the state’s issues. In Flagler County, affordable housing is a challenge. I would like to explore incentives for builders to take a little less profit to make homes, condos and apartments accessible to those who have limited incomes. This could be done through tax incentives and/or credits, public/private partnerships and bond guarantees. Exploring novel ways to assist in this endeavor would be my approach.
Will you vote YES or NO on the constitutional amendment to slash property taxes and explain your position. How would you replace lost revenue – fees and/or service reductions? The fiscal impacts of these changes have yet to be fully understood. There is assuredly some lost revenue from the amendment. There is also restrictive language in the summary as to what the ad valorem revenues may be utilized. Depending upon the actual amounts, lost revenue may be accounted for through adjustments in the budget or by increased and new fees, surcharges and taxes such as sales, gas, etc. I strongly desire to provide the same level of service currently enjoyed by all who are in Flagler County. If the numbers work out, then I would be in favor of it.
Utility costs are rising for customers in Florida, and the proliferation of data centers is expected to exacerbate that issue. How should Florida’s utility regulators respond? They should ensure that utilities are prohibited from cost recovery from residential and commercial customers to cover costs for increased loads. These should always be the responsibility of the entity consuming inordinate amounts of resources.
What do you think is the biggest environmental issue your government should address in Florida? Water. Water quality, drainage, reclaiming, aquifer protection, coastal renourishment, excessive consumption and elimination of septic systems.
Theresa Pontieri
WEBSITE: theresaforflagler.com/
Mrs. Pontieri did not respond to multiple emails and phone calls regarding our candidate survey.
She did, however, respond to our sister station in Jacksonville, WJXT, for their voting guide.
Since they asked different questions, we are linking to their responses HERE.
You can see the full WJXT voter guide HERE.