Important information about Ormond Beach Mayoral Candidate George Doran.

Public records show that in 2012 and 2014, George Doran was involved in two separate violent altercations, according to police reports.

2012 Incident

The 2012 case involved Doran and a woman he had described as a friend of about one year, identified as the victim in the report. The two became involved in an argument at a bar. The victim left and started to run across the parking lot. Doran followed her and tackled her to the ground. The victim called out for help. Doran then attempted to force her into his car; she did not want to go with him. Doran took her belongings and placed them in his truck. She ultimately got into the truck, and as they began to drive off, she jumped out. Doran again tried to force her into the vehicle and tackled her a second time. A witness observed the incident and called 911. The arrest report is posted below.

Doran was arrested on December 10 and charged with battery. He entered a plea of “no contest” (nolo contendere). On January 16, 2013, adjudication of guilt was withheld, and Doran was sentenced to four months of unsupervised probation with an order to have no contact with the victim.

Three days after the arrest, on December 13th, the victim filed for a Repeat Violence Injunction. The next day, the court granted her a Temporary Injunction for Protection Against Repeat Violence, naming George Doran as the respondent.

2014 Incident

The 2014 case involves a much more serious incident: George Doran’s arrest following a bar fight. According to the police report, the victim — a bouncer/bartender at the establishment — asked Doran to leave after hearing him claim to be a member of the Outlaw Motorcycle Club and repeatedly use a racial slur toward other patrons.

The victim and another employee identified themselves as representatives of the establishment and told Doran he needed to leave. Doran refused. When the two employees attempted to physically remove him, Doran pulled an object from his waistband, later identified as a Kabar knife, and stabbed the victim in the arm. The victim and the other employee then managed to force Doran to the ground, where he was held until police arrived.

Responding officers arrested Doran and charged him with Aggravated Battery with a Deadly Weapon. Bond was set at $25,003.00.

A trial was held, and on September 22, 2017, a jury found Doran guilty of Aggravated Battery. Adjudication of guilt was withheld, allowing Doran to avoid a felony conviction. He was sentenced to six months in jail (with 34 days credit for time served), five years of probation, and $15,000 in restitution to the stabbing victim.

Note that an Ormond Beach Observer article dated April 26, 2026, mentions Doran’s arrest:

“Doran has two previous arrests out of Jacksonville: One in 2012 for battery and another in 2014 for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. He was not convicted in either case. Doran had been employed by the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office at the time.”

This article is grossly inaccurate. While technically true that he was not convicted — because adjudication was withheld — the reality is that he pleaded no contest in the first case and a jury found him guilty in the second case.

See verdict below.

In addition, the claim that he was employed by the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office at the time of the incidents is false — he worked for the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office from 2007 to 2011. The first incident happened on December 10, 2012, the second on March 19, 2014.

Doran told the Observer these arrests took place after he got home from Afghanistan, where he sustained significant injuries during both tours. Those are one of those things I wish I could take back, but I can’t,” Doran said of his arrests. “You have to learn how to move on from these things. War was the hardest thing to move on from.”

These statements, likely designed to mitigate his previous misdeeds, imply that he was deployed as a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan, while in reality, George Doran worked for Triple Canopy, Inc., a private security contractor.

That employment appears to have been very short, since he started in May 2012 and, according to his W-2, he only earned $6,299.98 from Triple Canopy, Inc. There is no evidence he worked for them after 2012.

His attorney provided the court with very limited medical history regarding his claimed IED injuries in Afghanistan in the mitigating packet given to the court pre-sentencing. His attorney wrote:

“Admittedly, this section is a little bare due to the fact that the hospitals were such records were requested have been moving very slowly in response to our requests”

So, while Doran did serve in the U.S. Army Florida National Guard from 2004 to 2009 and was a St. Johns County Sheriff’s Deputy for nearly four years, his claims to have served two tours in Afghanistan and been wounded each time are unverified. And even if true, this did not happen while serving in the U.S. military but while working security for a private contractor.

What we verified is that in 2012, Doran worked for a private security contractor (Triple Canopy, Inc.), where, according to his W2, he earned less than $6,300 — a strikingly low figure for that line of work.

His claims that he was “not convicted” are misleading, considering that he pleaded nolo contendere (no contest) to the charges in the first case and was found guilty by a jury in the second case. He later filed an appeal, which was denied.

His controversial past, along with his lack of experience and local community involvement, raises some serious questions about his suitability for the most important elected position in our city.

It also should be noted that Doran has run for office before (2016), having filed as a write-in candidate for Florida State Representative, District 16. Since he never filed a single Campaign Treasurer’s Report and did not respond to 14 “Fail to File” letters from the Florida Division of Elections, as a result, The Florida Election Commission fined Doran $200 in December 2017 and $75 again in April 2018.

But here’s a fun wrinkle: George Doran previously ran for Florida House Representative in District 16 as a Democrat. And while the Ormond Beach mayoral race is technically non-partisan, both parties still like to publish their own “Voters Guide” telling the faithful who to pull the lever for.

So imagine our surprise flipping through both guides this cycle and finding George Doran’s name sitting proudly on both of them — Team Red and Team Blue, side by side, like he’s running unopposed in his own bipartisan fan club.

Someone’s political rolodex clearly didn’t get the memo. Either Doran has discovered the secret to uniting a divided nation, or a couple of political party county chairs are about to have a very awkward phone call.

Editor’s Note on Sourcing: All arrest reports, court verdicts, and campaign finance records referenced in this article are matters of public record and are linked above for readers to review directly. Additional financial and employment documentation was reviewed by The Ormond Gazette to verify the claims made in this piece but is not published in full, in order to protect personally identifiable information not otherwise part of the public record.

The Ormond Gazette is committed to accurate, source-based reporting on candidates for public office. Corrections or documentation disputing any claim in this article may be submitted to Info@theormondgazette.com