Deb Gillis files for reelection to Islamorada Village Council Seat 3

Deb Gillis filed for reelection to the Islamorada Village Council on April 15, putting her Seat 3 record, and her long ties to the village’s planning and tourism machinery, back before voters ahead of the Nov. 3 municipal election.

Gillis is a longtime Islamorada resident and hotel owner who operates Key Lantern Inn and Blue Fin Inn at mile marker 82.1 bayside. Her bid is not coming from the outside. She returned to the council in 2024 after defeating Mary Barley, 2,274 to 1,639, and now is seeking to extend a comeback that already earned voter approval.

Her resume reaches well beyond one term. Gillis served eight years on the council before terming out in 2018, and during that stretch she held both mayor and vice mayor duties. Between council stints, she stayed in the village’s land-use conversation through the Local Planning Agency, including time as chairwoman. She also offered Ordinance No. 20-06 on vacation-rental valuation criteria, a sign that she has spent time on the kinds of regulatory questions that still shape Islamorada politics.

That background gives Gillis a broad profile in a village where housing, traffic, shoreline issues, development and tourism overlap. She also serves as vice chair on the Monroe County Tourist Development Council District Four Advisory Committee, tying her directly to the county’s tourism economy. The TDC says its mission is to manage Monroe County’s tourism marketing efforts to ensure long-term economic stability through visitor-related revenues, and District IV covers the stretch from the Long Key Bridge to mile marker 90.939, placing Islamorada squarely inside that footprint.

The reelection filing comes with the village’s next municipal election set for Nov. 3, 2026, when all five Village Council seats will be on the ballot. To qualify, a candidate must be a registered Florida voter, a resident of Islamorada, Village of Islands, and remain a resident throughout the two-year term. The council’s current roster lists Gillis in Seat 3 alongside Mayor Don Horton, Vice Mayor Sharon Mahoney, and council members Steve Friedman and Anna Richards. Islamorada’s mayor is chosen by fellow council members for a one-year term, which makes relationships and institutional memory especially important in village hall.

The 2024 election underscored how competitive those seats can be, with eight candidates vying for four council spots. Voters also approved a term-limits change that allows council members to serve up to eight cumulative years, a rule that now lets experienced figures like Gillis return after previously terming out. As the campaign moves toward November, her record will be measured against the same pressures that have dominated Islamorada politics for years: workforce housing shortages, traffic backups, deteriorating infrastructure, climate resilience and future land use.