Joe Kalicki says he’s planning to bow out of the race for City Commission Seat 5.
In a lengthy social media post, the technology professional detailed his reasoning for suspending his campaign with the intent to withdraw and said no one urged him to drop out — the decision came from his own “self-assessment and projections” for the next 90 days.
“This post will probably surprise and disappoint some folks,” Kalicki wrote.
Kalicki entered the race four months ago, but he said there are many reasons — some “strategic” and some just “honest” — that he’s reconsidering now.
Recognizing he’s up against a multi-term incumbent, City Commissioner Dianne Williams-Cox, he said he didn’t have the capacity in his schedule to increase his campaigning the way he would need to win while maintaining his “complex full-time job,” as well as his health and wellbeing.
“I don’t feel right about asking people for more money when I don’t think I’ll meet the mark for the effort that’s required to win, and I don’t want to take up space on the ballot if I’m not giving it my all,” he wrote. “I am dropping now so that the electorate has the chance to react: by getting behind currently filed candidates opposing DWC, for someone to switch races, or for someone with name recognition to enter the race.”
Those still in the running are Williams-Cox; Tifany Hill, a retired Army combat medic; and Bernard Stevens Jr., a restaurant manager who unsuccessfully ran for city commission last election cycle.
Kalicki said he isn’t a “fantastic campaigner” because politics involves a lot of overstating accomplishments and “unchecked half truths,” which he said he hates and has never been good at.
And on top of that, he said he hates asking people for money. The dollars he’s fundraised so far will be returned to donors who pledged money to him within the last week, and those who donated prior to that he will be approaching to see if they mind having their money donated to charity.
Though he’s stepping away from the campaign trail, Kalicki said he’s not disappearing. He intends to still be involved in the community and make strides toward gaps that need to be filled, such as actionable economic development, incremental redevelopment and helping people bring their vision for Tallahassee and their neighborhood to life.
“My favorite thing in the world is crafting a vision and solving complicated problems and that’s just not what most of campaigning is,” he wrote.
Kalicki called for more working people to be involved in politics but said the city needs to make a better effort to support these people by holding training sessions for potential candidates and campaign managers.
He also said he’s going to keep working on getting a new voting majority on the commission by helping the campaigns he supports. When contacted by the Tallahassee Democrat, Kalicki said he’d be announcing endorsements in all the active races soon but didn’t want to reveal which races yet.
“Dianne Williams-Cox still deserves to be beat, and she can be beat,” he said in his social media post.
Elena Barrera can be reached at ebarrera@tallahassee.com. Follow her on X: @elenabarreraaa.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Why one Tallahassee commission candidate is withdrawing from race
Reporting by Elena Barrera, Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat
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