To the people of Lehigh Acres by David Shestokas,
There are six candidates seeking to succeed Connie Mack IV in the US Congress. The district includes much of Lehigh Acres, everything south of Lee Blvd. Only one of the six has shown an interest in Lehigh voters. The only one to participate in Politics in the Park was Byron Donalds. Byron came and met the voters of Lehigh Acres and stayed after his talk to visit with anyone with a question. Byron decisively won the straw poll at that event with 52% of the vote. That victory was followed by a straw poll win among members of the Lehigh Acres Community Council.
Recently the Greater Lehigh Acres Chamber of Commerce held its first Celebrity Waiter Dinner. The event was to support the Chamber Scholarship fund. This was another chance to meet the Lehigh Acres community, and help raise funds for a worthy Lehigh Acres cause. Byron was the only candidate there taking an interest in Lehigh Acres.
Byron was raised in a single parent household in Brooklyn, New York. He is the best source for his personal story: Journey to Liberty. He talks about the transition from a childhood in an area where being a Democrat was a way of life to a Republican in Southwest Florida. The story may explain why Byron is comfortable with all people in every setting. He’s not been picked to run by power brokers, or the son of a congressman, or a talk show host. He is a regular citizen.
Lehigh Acres is not the only place others have avoided. Early in the campaign there were a couple congressional forums attended by all six. Since then, four of the other five have to attend forums hosted by differing community groups. They seem to prefer to have their TV ads and mail talk at voters rather than to personally talk with them.
Most recently, these four did not come to McGregor Baptist Church. At the end of that forum, Byron talked about their failure to attend. His remarks are on YouTube, aptly entitled “We Have a County to Save.”
Byron’s willingness to meet and connect explains his over 300 volunteers, 9,200+ Facebook connections on three pages, and 10,200+ twitter followers. There is more at Citizens for Byron Donalds. Please take a look. The final thought here though, he’s the only one interested in Lehigh Acres.
Byron Donalds is the candidate who cares about all the people, no matter creed. He’s the only guy who cared enough to knock on my door….
That cannot possibly be true as I had Rep. Paige Kreegel and one of his staff members knock on my door. He spent about ten minutes with me discussing the issues.
Rep. Kreegel has been my State Representative for eight years and did a good job in the past and I am confident he will do a good job for me in Congress.
William Rep. Kreegel did not make it to my house but a week ago I received a personal phone call from him. He talked to me for about ten minutes. I found it refreshing that the candidate would actually call me.
Byron the self-described “citizen candidate” purchased both his Facebook and his Twitter followers. If he is grass roots rather than astro turf, why does he have to buy friends? Too much smoke, not so much heat.
George, unfortunate you choose to make things up. I understand you may have support for another candidate, and there are others here who do as well, and so stated. I personally know your comment to be untrue, and have watched both the Facebook and twitter following grow as Byron’s message of limited gov’t and individual liberty has resonated in cyberspace. It has been the message and the messenger that has contributed to that growth. This was what was called organic growth and is certainly not like purchasing votes with massive televison & radio campaigns funded by folks expecting political favors in return for funding.