How to know who to vote for in the Volusia County Council race: Just follow the money.

One of the reasons I decided to go into journalism was my fascination with the Watergate scandal , which forced the resignation of President Richard Nixon. I think I was 12 when I saw "All the President's Men." In that film, Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward, played by Robert Redford, was urged by secret source Deep Throat to "follow the money."

That is good advice if you want to know who is being backed by whom in the Aug. 20 election for chairperson of the Volusia County Council, a race that has become a referendum on economic growth and is also the subject of today's excellent cover story by reporter Sheldon Gardner.

First, judging by campaign finance filings, if you support looser restrictions on growth, incumbent chairman Jeff Brower is not your guy.

"There are times when we just have to say no (to permitting more growth) to protect the property rights and quality of life for every taxpayer in Volusia County," he said at his February State of the County address .

Brower, 69, is running against Deb Denys, a former county Council and school board member who lost to Brower in 2020. Also running are Port Orange Mayor Don Burnette, 57; and car dealer Randy Dye. We can learn a lot from that 2020 race.

More: Will Jeff Brower's anti-growth crusade sway voters enough to keep him in office?

Denys, a Realtor, was backed by big business and development interests. For example, in that election, she received at least 23 checks for $1,000 apiece from different businesses controlled by Mori Hosseini, a local philanthropist and one of the state's largest home builders, according to campaign finance reports .

Each business that gave listed the same Daytona Beach address as that of ICI Homes, Hosseini's area headquarters.

Despite the support, Denys, now 70, lost by about 40,000 votes, even though she outraised Brower by $244,000 to $84,500 , The News-Journal reported at the time.

This year, it appears Hosseini is backing a different horse.

Dye, the car dealer, has collected at least 20 checks for $1,000 each from Hosseini-run companies to be used toward this election. Denys, who jumped in the race a little more than a week before the close of qualifying , has raised about $5,000 so far, and that's a loan to herself. She has seen no donations from Hosseini. Not yet anyway.

As for Burnette, the Port Orange mayor, he received $6,000 from Hosseini companies to be put toward campaigns for mayor. Burnette, whose day job is as a loan officer, is an affordable housing proponent, according to Sheldon's story, and supports smart growth.

Denys' entry into the race has been met with some curiosity by local political wags.

"This just doesn't make any sense," wrote poster Robert Hougham in a popular local Facebook group called Volusia Issues. "All of her backers are already in Randy's pocket, and she has absolutely no chance to beat him or Jeff at this point."

As for Dye, 64, he backs a balanced approach to growth. Just because a politician gets big donations from homebuilders that doesn't mean he's going to back them on every issue. But I'm going to keep following the money.

John Dunbar is Executive Editor of the Daytona Beach News-Journal.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: How to know who to vote for in the Volusia County Council race: Just follow the money.