Jesse Casey passes away

General contractor and frequent county commission candidate Jesse Casey passed away suddenly due to complications caused by gallstones.

• The Republican first filed to run for the Escambia County District 1 seat, currently held by Wilson Robertson, in 2012. Incumbent Robertson nearly defeated Casey by 32 votes in the GOP primary, with 3,369 votes to Casey’s 3,337.

I interviewed him before the primary. Here is an excerpt from my post:

He’s a general contractor. Never been a politician before.

“Up to about two and a half years ago, I had zero political ambition to do anything,” said Jesse Casey.

Casey is aiming for the Escambia County Commission, District 1 seat. Having lived in the district since he was four-years-old, he considers himself familiar with the area.

“That’s the only district I’ve ever lived in,” the candidate said.

If he’s successful in his bid for the commission seat, Casey plans to approach issues from the perspective of his constituents.

“Some of our elected people in office forget who works for who,” he said.

The candidate takes a keen interest in ensuring the area has a thriving environment for business. He said he’s personally experienced the lack of such an environment in the area.

“I’ve had to go out of town and live out of a suitcase to make money,” Casey said. “You can go to Mobile and make more money than you can here. That’s always been the case and that shouldn’t be right. “

The candidate stated that bringing business opportunities to the area will have a positive overall impact on Escambia County and will be one of his key areas of focus.

“If you do that you create a stronger community,” Casey said. “The community’s going to grow.”

Later Races

In 2016, he filed again, taking on Jeff Bergosh and Karen Sindel, who came in second in a four-person GOP primary against incumbent District 2 Commisioner Gene Valentino in August 2010: Gene Valentino: 1,804, Karen Sindel: 1,650, Dave Murzin: 1,192, and George Touart: 589.

• The 2016 GOP primary had Bergosh win with 3,346, followed by Casey with 2,442 and Sindel with 2,415.

In 2020, Casey tried a third time and received more vote but not enough to best Bergosh:

Jeff Bergosh: 5,454
Jesse Casey: 4,377
Jonathan Owens: 3,174
Jimmie Trotter: 1,102

Last year was Casey’s worst showing at the polls:

Steve Stroberger: 4,801
Jeff Bergosh: 3,260
Jesse Casey: 796