How a teacher and dad from Florida shocked the world, and how I’m going to do it again.

Earlier this year, my face was on the cover of the UK Guardian. I don’t say that to brag, I say that because never in my life did I think that could happen. I’m a teacher, and a dad, just trying to leave a vaguely better life for my kids than I had. Which is getting harder and harder. So that’s what I talked about… and turns out regardless of the little letter next to my name, people wanted something to vote for: and a country where that was possible was a winning message.

Let’s cover the elephant in the room. I didn’t win. I know, I’m disappointed too. But I don’t think any hope we gave the country was false hope. At one point Trump’s own pollster had us 4 points up. Trump himself made time in his schedule 3 times to do virtual appearances and telephone town halls to rally his troops. Elon rallied his crypto PACs and spent millions in the last 2 weeks. All those resources beat us- yes, but we still moved the needle 18 points in a deeply red district. Over 80% of independent voters cast their vote for us. There were just so many republicans who came out on Election Day.

We knocked 600,000 doors, made 3 million phone calls, and knocked on doors of voters who hadn’t heard from Dems since the Obama era. How can they know what we stand for if they never hear from us? We showed UP and gave them something to vote for. And in literally any other congressional district in FL (save the Gaetz seat in the panhandle), those numbers would have carried us to victory.

My phone blew up with support from big names, and more importantly teachers and parents all over the country and state who were reminded that some element of the American Dream is still alive. Normal people can become REPRESENTATIVE of their neighbors and fight for a collective belief.

I’m not leaving my state behind. I’m not giving up. I firmly believe if we give people something to vote for, register democrats, and knock 250,000 doors in every congressional district in the state, the working families who think the Democratic Party has abandoned them WILL return to vote for the polls. That’s not even mentioning the tens of thousands of veterans and folks dependent on programs that Ashley Moody and Donald Trump are cutting.

That’s why today I’m announcing my campaign for US Senate here in Florida. Look, the powers that be aren’t thrilled I’m running. I’ve now made it very public my intent to support local elected officials, and assist every congressional district in knocking thousands of doors and running a strong race.

When you show what we did is possible in a red district, it’s embarrassing that the party infrastructure has repeatedly failed to do what we did in past cycles on a much larger budget.

They want us to celebrate them for a valiant attempt with numbers that just aren’t threatening to the GOP. This campaign isn’t about me- it’s about having a rally point for infrastructure starting NOW. Focused digital and in person voter registration. Showing up in places where young voters actually live and work- bars, kava houses, pickleball and basketball courts. Real local campaign support. Giving people something to vote FOR- & a cost of living where it’s possible for YOU to own a home, keep owning it, and raise and love the family of your choosing. It’s all possible, even here in Florida.

So are you on board? I hate to start this by asking for money, but the reality is if we don’t put up a good day 1 number, they’ll put in another boring same old same old against us who runs on a message of “Trump bad”. That’s not going to fly. He is bad, but most folks think we are bad too. It’s time to give them another option. Subscribe and CLICK HERE to support!