VERO BEACH — Local attorney Nicholas D. Thomas has filed paperwork to run for the District 5 County Commission seat up for election this fall.
The district encompasses the City of Vero Beach, Town of Indian River Shores and the unincorporated area on A1A south of County Road 510 and is currently held by Bob Solari.
Thomas is a resident of the City of Vero Beach and also has an office in the city limits on Ocean Drive in Central Beach. He first came to Vero at age 2 from the Pittsburgh area.
A graduate of St. Helen Catholic School and Vero Beach High School, Thomas completed his undergraduate study at the University of Florida and then earned his Juris Doctorate degree in 1989 from Florida State University. He practices in the areas of securities law and general legal matters and is a certified family law mediator with the Florida Supreme Court.
He is a member of both the Florida and North Carolina Bar Associations as he practiced for 12 years in Raleigh until returning to Vero Beach in 2005. Prior to that, he worked as a staff attorney for the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C.
Though this will be his first foray into the arena of running for public office, Thomas has enjoyed an active volunteer life ranging from serving on the board of the Ronald McDonald House in Chapel Hill, N.C. to coaching the Brain Bowl Academic Games at Beachland Elementary School.
“I’m running as what I am, a moderate Republican,” Thomas said. “My main focus will be on preserving our excellent quality of life, while dealing intelligently with the changes that are bound to come our way as the economy improves and our community grows.”
Thomas has been a Rotarian since 2005 and is a board member of the Rotary Club of Vero Beach and its foundation. He served on the charity review panel for the United Way of Indian River County and has volunteered as a coach for the Indian River Soccer Association for seven years and as a chess coach at two schools for a total of five years.
He also stays busy as a father of two, raising 19-year-old daughter Grace and 12-year-old son Elliot.
