POLITICS

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- Deb Denys did herself a favor and brought her dog with her for early voting Sunday outside the New Smyrna Beach Library. 

Headline Surfer photo by Serafina Frederick / The lines were long with waits of up to an hour or more Saturday at the New Smyrna Beach Library, the second heaviest of the five early voting precincts across Volusia County.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Voter turnout was intense today on the first day of early voting for the 2012 general elections with people standing in line for more than an hour waiting to vote at the New Smyrna Beach Library, which was second among the five voting precincts.

DAYTONA BEACH -- Ann Romney visited a beachside school this morning

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Of the 15 public candidate debates Headline Surfer sponsored and moderated, the ugliest by far was Sunday's battle between dist. 8 state senate candidates Dorothy Hukill, the Republican, and Democrat Frank Bruno.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Debates and the transparency, or lack thereof, of candidates, their handlers and the media is discussed in this episode of The Roundtable, Headline Surfer's online news and public affairs show.

Headline Surfer photo by Ben Johnson / The following endorsement for Sheriff Ben Johnson, shown here, comes from Stanley Escudero, chairman of the Volusia County Republican Executive Committee:

My Fellow Volusians,

Ben Johnson has been our county’s chief law enforcement officer since 2000, and has served us well as a valued member of the Sheriff’s Department since 1971.

He is the recipient of a great many honors and awards from his fellow law enforcement officers and state sheriffs’ associations and has given selflessly of his time and energies to serve on charitable boards and in other offices of community service in addition to his decades of hard and dangerous work as sheriff.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- You would think that this being the 21st century, the digital age where people get their news, weather, stocks, pay bills and so forth through the Internet that elections ballots would be crystal clear. While Volusia Supervisor of Elections Ann McFall has been critical of Gov.

DAYTONA BEACH -- Dist. 8 state senate hopeful Frank Bruno was the last major candidate on stage to introduce himself to the Daytona Regional Chamber of Commerce hob nob crowd Tuesday at the Ocean Center, but he left a big winner, besting his Republican rival Dorothy Hukill, 54 to 46 percent of the 184 votes cast in a straw poll ballot.

Photo for Headline Surfer courtesy of Deb Denys / Oak Hill mayoral candidates and city commissioners Linda Hyatt and Doug Gibson are shown here from Saturday's Oak Hill Community Trust fundraiser at Mary DeWees Park.

OAK HILL -- Some 125 people attended a barbecue chicken fundraiser Saturday at Mary DeWees Park sponsored by the Oak Hill Community Trust.

Among the attendees were several candidates running for public office including mayoral candidates Linda Hyatt and Doug Gibson in the non-partisan race. Both are city commissioners.