Ormond Beach, FL - A former Ormond Beach mayor who also represented Volusia County in Tallahassee and served as a judge passes away following a long fight with brain cancer.
Charles David "Dave" Hood Jr. died this morning (March 15th) at the age of 64. A celebration of life will be held at Tomoka Christian Church in Ormond Beach on March 26th.
The Louisiana native moved to Florida in 1978 after earning his law degree from the University of South Carolina and worked as an attorney, eventually becoming a partner with Daytona Beach-based law group Smith, Bigman & Brock.
The Republican started his political career in Ormond Beach, serving on the City Commission from 1992 to 1999, the last five as the city's mayor.
Following his cancer diagnosis in 2007, Hood won election to Florida House District 25 in 2012, which covered the eastern parts of Volusia County, including Ormond Beach, Daytona Beach Shores, Port Orange, Ponce Inlet and New Smyrna Beach.
Fellow Republican Fred Costello took Hood's place in the Florida Legislature after he decided not to run again following surgery to remove a tumor in 2013, choosing instead to become a judge on the Florida 7th Circuit Court.
Hood resigned in September 2014 after then-Florida Governor Rick Scott appointed him in place of retiring Judge David B. Beck, leading to him ending his election campaign against Michael B. Orfinger.
Four months before that happened, Hood's 26-year-old son, Randall Clay Hood, died in an apparent drowning at a neighbor's pool in Ormond Beach.
Hood lost his judicial robe in the August 2016 election to Kathleen McNeilly by over 10,000 votes.
