With 60 days until the end of the qualifying period for candidates to declare for the 2024 election, the three races for Sumter County commission are coming into focus. As is usually the case in a county dominated by GOP voters, all candidates are running as Republicans. However, as in the most recent elections of 2022 and 2020, a clear distinction is emerging. Each race features active supporters of the local Republican party's agenda of low taxes and business growth versus those campaigning on tax-and-spend policies and anti-business sentiments.
Candidates for Sumter County Commission District 1
Mary Lazich, 72, Village of Sabal Chase
Education: Bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Work experience: Lazich served as a Republican state senator for 19 years, including being chosen by her peers in her final session as the Senate's first woman president. In 2016, she was named to the "Wisconsin Women For Trump” organization that was instrumental in delivering the state to a GOP presidential candidate for the first time since 1984. An ally of former presidential candidate Gov. Scott Walker, her tenure was marked by job creation, opposition to gun restrictions, support for parental rights in schools and election security. She also co-sponsored the state's 20-week ban on abortions except in cases of medical emergency. In her two decades in the state senate, Lazich also served as majority caucus chairperson; chair of the committee on transportation and elections; co-chair of the joint legislative council; member of the committee on public health, human services and revenue; member of the committee on labor, public safety and urban affairs; and member of the joint legislative audit committee. She previously served for three years on the Waukesha County Board of Supervisors and six years on the New Berlin City Council, where she was an active member of several Republican clubs.
Local political activity: Former Senator Lazich serves on the Sumter County Republican Party Executive Committee, is the Republican Precinct Woman for Precinct 106 and an active member of The Villages Republican Club.
Debora 'Deb' Butterfield, 67, Village of Winifred
Education: Bachelor's degree in journalism from Indiana University
Work experience: Butterfield served four years on the Valparaiso, Indiana, city council before resigning that post in 2015 with a year left in her term. In announcing her decision, she cited a desire to relocate to The Villages, where she had purchased a Merle Norman franchise in 2012 that she divested in 2015. A former public relations executive, she also served on the Valparaiso Chamber of Commerce for 15 years, including as its president. She also was a member of the Valparaiso Parks and Recreation Board and the Parks Foundation board and president of the local Kiwanis Club.
Local political activity: Butterfield is the editor and writer for the Property Owner's Association of The Villages, an organization that is critical of Gov. Ron DeSantis, favors tax increases and opposes The Villages Public Safety Department's bid to break free of county financial control. She is the first candidate in the Sumter Commission race to file a financial disclosure, which reveals her largest donor to be an out-of-state developer. Her other largest campaign donations are free advertising from the POA and cash donations from two POA board members — one of whom is running for the Florida House as a Democrat.
Candidates for Sumter County Commission District 3
Todd Coon, 49, Oxford
Education: High school graduate, some general studies at Mercer University
Work experience: Coon is a multi-generation area resident who owns Tri-County Landscapes, a family company headquartered in Summerfield where he has worked for 27 years. Since buying the company in 2010, he has quadrupled its employees from 30 to 120 serving 30 Florida counties and areas of Georgia and South Carolina. In 2022, he also purchased DeSantis AC & Appliance serving Sumter, Lake, Marion and Citrus counties from an 11,000-square-foot facility in Wildwood. His companies employ three of his five children and are regular donors to organizations such as the Sumter County Fair, the Stampeders youth rodeo, Cornerstone Hospice and several programs in area schools. His companies also donated landscaping for four Habitat for Humanity homes in Sumter and Lake counties. He is a major funder of the South Sumter baseball league, supporting local all-stars at the regional, state and national championship. He has served on the board of the Sumter County Chamber of Commerce since 2019.
Local political activity: Coon is in the process of joining the Sumter County Republican Party Executive Committee and is a member of the Sumter County Republican Club. DeSantis AC was the title sponsor for this year's Lincoln Day dinner, but he has until now avoided the political arena. The only non-Villages resident on the ballot, he is campaigning as: "I am not a politician. I am a father, a small businessman and community activist.”
Craig Estep, 67, Village of Winifred
Education: High school graduate, Advanced County Commissioner program
Work experience: Estep has served on Sumter's commission since 2020 and is its chairman. He previously served five years as a CDD1 supervisor. He is a retired base pilot supervisor for Air Evac Life Team who spent three years in the U.S. Marine Corps and 17 years in the Army National Guard before 20 years of different roles in law enforcement and emergency management.
Local political activity: Estep serves on the Sumter County Republican Party Executive Committee and is a member of the Sumter County Republican Club. But he has tussled with party leaders since running an anti-business campaign backed by a political action committee and the Property Owner's Association of The Villages — groups critical of Gov. Ron DeSantis, in favor of tax increases and opposed to The Villages Public Safety Department's bid to break free of county financial control. He has voted to triple the fire fee cap on homeowners (a move that failed), to raise impact fees on businesses by 75% (a move that failed and prompted a UF Health hospital to relocate from Sumter to Lake County), to drastically spike fire assessment fees on businesses (a move that failed) and to spend $25 million in federal COVID funds on non-health care projects amid a county ambulance crisis. Although his predecessors cut county spending 4% the year before Estep took office, he has voted for spending increases each year of his term by 26%, 3% and 24%.
Candidates for Sumter County Commission District 5
Don Wiley, 63, Village of Hillsborough
Education: High school graduate, Navy Nuclear Power School graduate
Work experience: Wiley is the Sumter commission's vice-chairman. He was appointed to the seat by Gov. Ron DeSantis in June 2022 amid a criminal investigation into Wiley's predecessor, Oren Miller. Voters later affirmed Wiley's position in the November 2022 election. He previously served eight years as a CDD10 supervisor and was chairman of that board for the last two. He was appointed to the Project Wide Advisory Committee in 2014 and was named its chairman in 2021. He is a retired Navy chief petty officer with 20 years of military service in the U.S. Navy submarine force as a nuclear reactor operator. He then spent two decades in construction management, working as a systems engineer and operations manager for a three-state region and overseeing construction projects in Florida. Wiley also operates a small drone flyover business with 19,300 YouTube followers under the moniker "Gold Wingnut.”
Local political activity: Wiley serves on the Sumter County Republican Party Executive Committee and is a member of the Sumter County Republican Club. He has voted to successfully defeat an attempt to drastically spike fire assessments on businesses. He has been a staunch supporter of The Villages Public Safety Department and its bid to break free of county financial control, and he organizes an annual volunteer effort to provide Thanksgiving meals to fire stations throughout the community.
Oren Miller, 74, Village of Sanibel
Education: Associate's degree, Joliet Junior College
Work experience: Miller served on the Sumter commission for one year before he was suspended by Gov. Ron DeSantis during a criminal investigation. A retired logistics manager for Caterpillar, he was convicted by a jury of felony perjury and served 75 days in jail before winning his case on appeal. He is suing Gov. DeSantis for reinstatement while also facing a finding by the state's Commission on Ethics that he violated Florida's gift law by improperly reporting donations to his legal defense.
Local political activity: Miller is a former Democrat and failed 2018 Democrat candidate for the Florida House. Like commissioner Craig Estep, his campaign was backed by a political action committee and the Property Owner's Association of The Villages — groups critical of Gov. DeSantis, in favor of tax increases and opposed to The Villages Public Safety Department's bid to break free of county financial control. Miller voted to triple the fire fee cap on homeowners (a move that failed), to hike fees 75% on businesses (a move that failed) and to spend $25 million in federal COVID funds on non-health care projects amid a county ambulance crisis. An animal rights activist, he unsuccessfully pushed for a $4.7 million animal services building as the county was searching for $3.7 million for ambulances. His final votes in office were against The Villages Public Safety Department's requests to run ambulances and enter a mutual aid arrangement.
