8/18/2026

We came up short tonight.

I called Casey Willits to congratulate him. I told him what I have been saying for twenty years, which is that the East Side has waited long enough, and I asked him to make it a priority. He has four years to do it. I want him to succeed at it, because the people who live there need him to.

To everyone who knocked on a door, made a call, put out a sign, wrote a check, or just told a neighbor my name: thank you. Every conversation you had was real, and I know what it costs to have them. You gave up your evenings and your weekends for months, and you did it because you believe this city can take better care of the people who live in it. I believe that too. That did not change tonight.

To my family, who carried more of this than anyone will ever see: thank you.

I have been showing up to meetings in this city since I was a teenager. I have run a business here. I have sat on the boards where the decisions get made, long before my name was ever on a ballot. None of that required an election, and none of it stops now. I will keep asking the same questions I have been asking, and I will keep showing up.

Thank you, Gainesville. I am grateful to every one of you.

DeJeon